Among changes, KUSD should institute mandatory anti-harassment training - Kenosha News

February 26, 2019 at 04:13AM

Somehow, the Tremper High School cheerleading awards' body shaming practices weren't seen as a problem by those in leadership at the school.

Year after year, gag awards were part of the festivities attended by about 100 people. Last March these included "Big Booty," "Big Boobie" and "String Bean" awards.

A few parents complained last year, the coaches and school personnel investigated, yet nothing changed. This is how they did it.

Until last week, only a few hundred or so people knew about this. Now, the world does.

Kenosha could make national news for so many great things, but here was this reported by The New York Times in a story titled, "At Wisconsin High School, Accusations of Body Shaming at a Cheerleading Banquet."

The Times has been looking into examples of cheerleaders calling out poor treatment they say they face, particularly in the NFL. The paper ended up focusing on a case close to home and first reported that the American Civil Liberties Union last Tuesday sent the district a formal warning that it might sue, saying it had "failed to take any meaningful corrective action" in the Tremper case.

The ACLU, through an open records request, reported that the cheer coach Patti Uttech responded this way to a concern raised by a former Tremper track coach: "I honestly don't feel that I need to explain myself about how we ran our banquet. Actually we have run it this way for years and have never had a problem."

Former Tremper coach Patti Hupp worked there four years and was the only female head coach. She told reporter Terry Flores last week that the culture created in the building was "not the best for women and girls."

As for the cheerleading banquet, Hupp said, "I'm disgusted with the cheer coaches and with the Kenosha parents that sat there and said and did nothing."

It would be one thing if the Tremper cheerleading awards were the only case involving harassment at Kenosha Unified School District, as cited by the ACLU. It's the third in recent years.

Last December, the ACLU called on KUSD to institute mandatory anti-harassment training for all of its employees, including teachers, coaches and administrative staffers, by March 1.

This was in response to the district launching an investigation into a Bradford health class when students were asked to answer questions after watching a video such as, "What could Melissa have done differently to have avoided her sexual assault (provide at least four examples)?"

Prior to that, it was the ACLU involved with students and parents over KUSD's dress code, which they said unfairly singled out young women, particularly those who wore yoga pants to school. That matter took more than a year to resolve.

What we now know is the cheerleading banquet will change this year.

Tanya Ruder, KUSD chief communications officer, said the district was "not at liberty to share personel matters. ... In regard to the Tremper incident, a clear expectation has been set that awards of this nature are not acceptable and are not to be given at Tremper cheerleading banquets going forward."

What we don't know is how aggressively KUSD will make changes that are needed going forward. A start would be — as the ACLU has suggested — instituting required anti-harassment training for all employees.

Asma Kadri-Keeler, one of the ACLU Wisconsin attorneys who called for the district to take immediate corrective action, is a graduate of KUSD.

"I'm worried. I had a good experience cycling through the KUSD system," she said. "I don't know if it's a lack of commitment on their part, but we are very concerned about how the district treats students based on their sex and with sex discrimination. We don't want one of the largest districts in the state to keep furthering that problem. It's extremely troubling."