Unified School District of De Pere absolved, results disputed

DE PERE – Despite the Unified School District of De Pere being absolved of any wrongdoing when it comes to teaching reading, one school board member is threatening to sue.

Another board member is accusing the board’s head of a Class I felony, and a third issued a complaint about the first.

Board member Melissa Niffenegger, who filed a complaint with Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction in August regarding the district’s first- and second-grade reading curricula, disputes the recently released results from the DPI investigation.

The district produced a more than 200-page report for the DPI’s investigation.

Barb Novak, director of the Office of Literacy for the DPI, said in the report that Unified School District staff should be commended for taking a “strategic, intentional and expertise-focused approach to early literacy that accelerates reading for every child while meeting the requirements of Act 20.”

But Niffenegger is having none of it.

“I adamantly disagree with the findings of the Department of Education,” Niffenegger said at Monday’s school board meeting. “I have valid reason to believe that their conclusions are incorrect.”

She said the school isn’t complying with Wisconsin’s Act 20 literacy law, which the state legislature passed in 2023.

It went into effect at the start of the school year.

Niffenegger said the school district is using a teaching technique called three-cueing, which the new law doesn’t permit.

Curriculum Director Kathy Van Pay has told Niffenegger more than once that the district doesn’t use the method.

The method was discontinued several years ago.

“Our curriculum does not include three-cueing,” Van Pay said in October. “Grades 1-4 discontinued using (the textbook) years ago. Kindergarten rewrote their curriculum to discontinue use of it as well.”

Niffenegger says the district’s website includes a book or a reference or link to a book by an author who promotes or has promoted three-cueing in the past.

Van Pay and other administrators and staff have told her it doesn’t.

Three-cueing encourages students to use context, syntax, and pictures or visual information when learning to read. It’s also called MSV, for meaning, sound/syntax, and visual cues.

“Our literacy leadership team has responded to repeated questions related to Act 20 since August,” Van Pay said.  “Despite appearing before the Board at regular and frequent intervals, and responding to lengthy, detailed questions, accusations by one Board member of non-compliance with Act 20 persist. The continued unsubstantiated allegations made during public meetings, or in comments on social media, are taking a personal and professional toll on all staff, especially those involved in our early literacy program.”

She said outside groups have spread misinformation about the district on social media.

“This is simply unacceptable when assessment data shows 90 percent of USDD students in grades 4-6 are reading at or above grade level, and the DPI investigation determined we are fully compliant with Act 20,” Van Pay said.

Van Pay “respectfully requested” that no person or organization continue to make public allegations that the Unified School of De Pere is not in compliance with Act 20.

The investigation completed by DPI was a definitive finding, she said.

But Niffenegger says she has material facts supporting her claims that responses Van Pay has given to her questions “directly conflict with DPI’s conclusions.”

She said as she continues to “uncover more information,” she will bring it before the board.

“If the board chooses to ignore these concerns, I will pursue other avenues to ensure accountability and transparency,” she said. “I maintain that despite DPI’s findings, our literacy curriculum still fails to meet academic requirements. It’s critical that the board adapts my concerns that were made in good faith because I believe the curriculum may still rely on outlawed methods of literacy instruction.”

Board President Adam Clayton said the board had run the issue into the ground and there was nothing more to talk about. “This is not a discussion that is going to get any more fruitful, so let’s end it and move on,” Clayton said.

He added that he was not interested in putting it on a future agenda.

The topic has occupied large portions of several board meetings.

Board member Brandy Tollefson wrote to the board about publicly unnamed policy violations she said Niffenegger made, saying she wanted to give her the chance to correct them. If she were to choose not to, Tollefson would submit a formal complaint.

Her complaint will go to legal counsel. Thompson said he had received a number of complaints from the community about Niffenegger, and didn’t want to single one out.

The next step is for Clayton and Superintendent Chris Thompson to consult with the district’s attorney.

The topic may be on the Jan. 13 agenda.