Latest news with #St.FrancisHighSchool
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
St. Francis baseball coach arrested, released from responsibilities
The Brief A St. Francis High School baseball coach was recently arrested. The coach has since been released from all coaching responsibilities. The superintendent confirmed to FOX6 News the investigation involves junior varsity coach Jeff Wuerl. ST. FRANCIS, Wis. - A St. Francis High School baseball coach, who was recently arrested, has been released from all coaching responsibilities, the school district announced on Wednesday. What we know In a letter sent to families on Tuesday, the St. Francis Public School District said the junior varsity baseball coach was released on bond. The school district later confirmed the coach was not a teacher at the school. The superintendent confirmed to FOX6 News the investigation involves junior varsity coach Jeff Wuerl. FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX LOCAL Mobile app for iOS or Android The Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office said he was booked into the county jail on Sunday, May 25, and was brought in by the Milwaukee Police Department for accusations of repeated sexual assault of a child. He was released from custody the following morning, May 26, after posting $10,000 bail. Wuerl has not yet been charged with any crime. The letter to families continued: "Upon learning of the arrest, the District took immediate action and the individual has been released from all coaching responsibilities and provided notice of restricted areas on school property and at school-sponsored events. Our staff has been fully cooperative with law enforcement and related agencies throughout this process. The District continues to support the ongoing investigation and remain committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of our students and school community. SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News "The District understands that situations like this can be concerning. Please know the District will continue to monitor developments closely and provide any necessary support to our students and families." Local perspective Charlie Kuhn is a sophomore at the high school. She plays in the Wilson Premier Youth Baseball league and is acquainted with the coach from that organization. "We weren't really told anything why or what really happened. I didn't really know the guy well, but it's kind of shocking considering that a high school baseball coach was just, like, arrested," Kuhn said. "My mom, she sent me a screenshot of the email and she was like, 'do you know who the jv baseball coach is?' He's talked to me a few times from baseball and stuff, and was like, 'that was a great hit,' or whatever." The Source Information in this report is from the St. Francis Public School District and the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office.
Global News
01-05-2025
- Global News
Former Calgarian among victims of Vancouver's Lapu Lapu festival tragedy
Her friends and family remember her as someone who would do anything to help others, filled with empathy and a desire to help the world. Jenifer Darbellay was one of 11 people killed Saturday night when an SUV plowed through a crowd of people at Vancouver's Filipino festival. Originally from Calgary, where she graduated from St. Francis High School and the Alberta College of Art and Design, Darbellay had lived in Vancouver for many years. An accomplished artist, she was attending the Lapu Lapu festival with her husband when she was killed, leaving behind two children, ages 15 and seven. View image in full screen Former Calgarian, Jenifer Darbellay, seen here with her husband Noel Johansen, has been identified as one of the people killed Saturday in the tragedy at Vancouver's Filipino festival. Courtesy: Marilyn Potts Speaking at a vigil for the victims on Monday, Darbellay's husband, who was injured in the attack and attended the vigil on crutches, fought back tears as he described his family's heartbreak. Story continues below advertisement 1:13 'She was larger than life': Husband of Vancouver Lapu Lapu festival victim pays moving tribute to wife 'What you see here is an injury that means nothing to me because what's inside my heart in broken — because my wife passed away behind me at the incident,' said Noel Johansen. View image in full screen Before moving to Vancouver, Jenifer Darbellay, worked in costume design with Theatre Calgary and Alberta Theatre Projects. Courtesy: Marilyn Potts While she was still living in Calgary, Darbelly became good friends with St. Francis High School drama teacher Marilyn Potts, now retired, and a mentor to her students. Story continues below advertisement 'We were doing Fiddler on the Roof and I had hired Terry Gunberdahl, who was a local set designer, and our image was to have this play designed as a Chagall painting,' said Potts. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'So she came in and she was a little hesitant and Terry took a paintbrush and he cut it in half and he said just paint those costumes like Chagall, and she did and it was brilliant, it was one of the best things we ever did and visually it was stunning.' View image in full screen Former Calgarian, Jenifer Darbelly (right), who was one of the victims from Vancouver's Lapu Lapu Festival is seen in this photo with her friend, former St. Francis High School drama teacher, Marilyn Potts. Courtesy: Marilyn Potts Darbellay worked with both Theatre Calgary and Alberta Theatre Projects before moving to Vancouver, where she earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of British Columbia. But she and Potts remained great friends and their families would visit each summer. 'She was … an old soul, she was so kind and so generous and so giving and such a team player and a fabulous teacher, so when she had her own family and she's a superb mother … and wife,' said Potts. Story continues below advertisement View image in full screen Former Calgarian Jenifer Darbellay was known as an accomplished artist and painter. Provided to Global News According to Darbellay's online bio she worked primarily in acrylics in her home studio and costume designs in watercolours. But she never forgot where she came from and often donated some of her works to help raise money for groups like Alberta Theatre Projects. 'She was so generous. She was kind to everybody. Everybody was her friend. She would do everything for people,' added Potts. Since the tragedy, Potts said she has been in touch with and received many messages from the students and others that Darbellay has helped over the years. 'Her parents are wonderful. Her husband is great. I feel very sad for everything that they are going through.' Marilyn Potts describes her friend, Jenifer Darbellay, who was was of the victims of Vancouver's Lapu Lapu tragedy, as 'as truly exceptional human being.' Courtesy: Marilyn Potts But despite the tragedy and the loss of her friend, Potts refuses to hold a grudge. Story continues below advertisement 'One of my former students and her friend sent me a writing that came from somewhere,' said Potts. 'Noel, her husband, said that they had been discussing the day before how in our world where there's so much trouble and so many people wanting revenge — that we need to learn compassion and we need to learn to forgive — and Noel said I want to hopefully be able to put that philosophy to work.' 'I think she'd be very happy with that,' said Potts, 'because I never heard her hold a grudge against anyone or say anything bad against anyone. She was so open to everyone, no matter what your religion, preferences, whatever. She was a truly an exceptional human being.'
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
It's happening here: when book bans hit home
Some titles banned from the St. Francis High School library by the St. Francis school board's right-wing scoring system. Photo courtesy of Ryan Fiereck. If you're a reader, a student of history, or a writer, it's been appalling to watch book bans proliferate across the nation. As The Reformer reported last month, St. Francis High School and Independent School District 15 recently adopted a policy that defers to Booklooks, a website linked to the far-right group Moms for Liberty when evaluating which books to purchase or pull from shelves. The result: Hundreds of books are now either banned outright or will likely be pulled from shelves in the near future; this includes classics like The Handmaid's Tale, The Bluest Eye, and soon, perhaps the likes of 'Night' by Elie Wiesel and 'Slaughterhouse Five' by Kurt Vonnegut and hundreds of others. I graduated from St. Francis High School in 2001. I owe much of my career as a writer — I've written ten books and edited many more — to one of the soon-to-banned books. It was 'Slaughterhouse Five.' It was the year 2000. Frosted tips and Billabong shirts were everywhere. I picked up the book from a spinner in my journalism class. (That teacher was the best teacher I ever had.) I absorbed it, and I proceeded to read every other book by Vonnegut on the spinner, and then Ray Bradbury; soon I was reading Sylvia Plath and Richard Wright. A good book is a springboard to others; the best books lead to a lifetime of a reading. Rather than trot out generic arguments about why book bans are ill-advised, I want to talk about 'Slaughterhouse Five.' It's a fictionalized story, that like all truly great fiction, is, at its heart, true. Vonnegut was a G.I. in World War II. He was in the 106th Infantry Division and was captured during the Battle of the Bulge. To put that another way: The St. Francis school board wants to ban a novel written by an American serviceman and a member of the Greatest Generation. Vonnegut was forced to do manual labor in Dresden, and he survived the firebombing of the city in February 1945 by the Royal Air Force and the U.S. 8th Air Force. The resulting firestorm killed perhaps 35,000 people. 'Slaughterhouse Five' is superficially science fiction, but it's really about the insanity of war, the absurdity of surviving one, and more than anything, PTSD. Vonnegut's writing will last forever because he's irreverent, funny, and accessible, but he's also honest and fundamentally decent. That's why Vonnegut appeals to younger readers; kids aren't just picky eaters; they are picky readers. You have to meet them where they are in terms of attitude, interest, and style. By removing some of the most popular books among young people — classics and newer books alike — the district is depriving students of great books but also the love of reading and learning itself. And as a rule, if you're banning books, you're afraid of ideas: The Soviets were afraid of capitalism, religion, and freedom of speech. The Nazis loathed the Jews, 'inferior' races, modernism in all its forms, and were racist to their core. The Inquisition banned or targeted works by Copernicus and Galileo and Giordano Bruno because they feared their monopoly on cosmology was at an end. The ideas that Booklooks, and by extension, The St. Francis School Board, fear are plain. Even the most cursory look at its anonymous 'ratings' (available on Internet Archive) shows that the books it targets are by or about women, LGBTQ folks, Black and brown folks, or people who have a 'different' point of view. Like any attempt at censorship, it's an exercise in erasure. But I can promise you this: It won't work. As the packed school board meetings, recent student protests, and a pair of newly filed lawsuits against the district make clear, people care about the freedom to read, the First Amendment, and the books and characters they love. This misguided policy has already been an expensive debacle, and the district has made statewide news in the most embarrassing way. If the policy remains in force, it will continue to hurt the district's own students by depriving them of great works of art, and worse, giving them an incomplete, myopic view of the world.
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
ACLU, teachers, students sue St. Francis Area Schools over book bans
A shelf of "The Kite Runner" at the St. Francis High School library; the school board has used a right-wing scoring system to ban books, including Khaled Hosseini's coming-of-age story that's sold 38 million copies worldwide. Photo courtesy of Ryan Fiereck. The ACLU of Minnesota and the state teachers union filed two separate lawsuits Monday against St. Francis Area Schools, alleging that the district's book bans violate the Minnesota Constitution and a 2024 law banning book bans. Students, teachers and parents are also plaintiffs in the lawsuits. St. Francis Area Schools adopted a library policy in November that relies on ratings from a website called BookLooks, which has ties to the right-wing group Moms for Liberty. Books with a BookLooks rating of 3 or higher (out of 5) are subject to removal from St. Francis bookshelves at the request of a student, parent or community member. So far, the district has banned, or plans to ban, books including 'The Handmaid's Tale' by Margaret Atwood, 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower' by Stephen Chbosky, 'The Bluest Eye' by Toni Morrison and 'The Kite Runner' by Khaled Hosseini, among others. The Reformer interviewed Hosseini last week about his book being pulled from the shelves. Of the 47 books that have been challenged, all but one challenge came from a 'community member' — i.e., not a student or parent, according to the Education Minnesota complaint. So far, 11 books have been removed from the shelves and the other 36 challenges are pending. The litigation highlights the pitched national battle in recent years over what constitutes valuable educational content and who should be allowed to restrict it, leading to similar book bans across the country. The lawsuits will test Minnesota's law limiting book bans, which was passed by the DFL-controlled Legislature in 2024. The law states 'a public library cannot ban, remove or restrict access to books or other materials based solely on its viewpoint or the messages, ideas, or opinions it conveys.' The law does allow for books to be removed from shelves based on practical reasons, 'legitimate pedagogical concerns, including but not limited to the appropriateness of potentially sensitive topics for the library's intended audience,' and to comply with other state or federal laws. The law also requires that library administrators adopt a library materials policy that outlines procedures for the selection and removal of materials. That policy must be administered by a librarian or someone trained in library collection management. In its complaint, the ACLU pointed out that the school district's attorney advised the school board against adopting the BookLooks-based rating system because the organization does not appear to be run by a librarian — instead, it is run by 'concerned parents,' according to the website. Both lawsuits pointed to comments made by a board member who supported the BookLooks-based policy because it aligned with the area's 'red' — conservative — beliefs. BookLooks is shutting down, according to a message on its website, but a similar organization — out of Utah, is maintaining the BookLooks archive. The St. Francis Area School Board will meet Monday evening. Individuals organizing against the library policy plan to read letters from authors whose books have been banned in the district, according to a press release from the teachers union. St. Francis High School students staged a walkout in protest of the library policy on Monday afternoon.
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘The Handmaid's Tale' could really teach something to the kids in St. Francis. Too bad it's banned.
Some titles banned from the St. Francis High School library by the St. Francis school board's right-wing scoring system. Photo courtesy of Ryan Fiereck. When I asked the media specialist how she felt when banned books were pulled from the shelves of the St. Francis High School library, she told me, 'Each book I have had to remove crushes me inside.' Since December, St. Francis has had one of the worst school-based book bans in the United States, according to PEN America. It's taking a toll. Educators are upset. Students are checking out fewer books. The pile of forbidden titles is growing. That doesn't sound like Minnesota to many people. Our governor likes to say we feed kids here, we don't ban books. But as the president of the union of educators in St. Francis, I want everyone to know it can happen here. The only real safeguard against book bans is us, as voters and plaintiffs, standing up for the freedom to read. My school district is taking books off the shelves for all the familiar prejudices, but the policy is unique because there is no longer any local review or way to appeal. Nearly three months ago, the school board delegated all that to an anonymous website in Florida called has been linked to Moms for Liberty, the anti-government group running a national disinformation campaign to spread distrust of public schools as a prelude to private school vouchers. The site uses anonymous reviewers and secret criteria to evaluate the 'appropriateness' of books for young adults from a harmless zero to five. Books with LGBTQ+ and Black characters, or that have 'controversial religious commentary,' tend to get worse ratings. For books the group really doesn't like, it quotes passages out of context, counts swear words and offers a .pdf summary. The clear bias and murky process matter because in December, the St. Francis school board ignored its attorney, rejected a plan for a review committee of local volunteers and embraced Now any books with a rating of three or higher are removed after anyone files a formal request. No discussion allowed. Let's be clear. That is a ban. 'Out of Darkness' by Ashley Hope Pérez won multiple literary prizes but didn't impress It's gone. So is 'Me, Earl and the Dying Girl' by Jesse Andrews. The shelves are empty where 'Push,' 'Tricks,' and 'Lucky' stood. More than 40 well-used copies of 'The Kite Runner' languish on a cart with warning signs that say '… cannot be checked out!' 'The Bluest Eye' and 'The Perks of Being Wallflower' are out. 'The Handmaid's Tale' by Margaret Atwood imagines America as a puritanical theocracy. labeled it a four of five. Students should have checked it out when they had the chance because it is no longer part of our high school library. It may not stop there. According to the district policy, any formal challenges will result in the automatic removal of the Holocaust novel 'Night' by Elie Wiesel because of its religious commentary and references to hate. 'Native Son' won't last. Even the classic World War II novel 'Slaughterhouse-Five' by Kurt Vonnegut is on borrowed time. points to explicit violence, swearing and 'inflammatory religious commentary' and gives it a four. And so it goes. This is viewpoint discrimination and a violation of state law and the First Amendment, but there's no enforcement. The state of Minnesota hasn't reacted. After the November elections, the U.S. Department of Education went from filing lawsuits to stop book bans in schools to calling them a 'hoax.' The fact that has announced that it would stop operating at the end of March doesn't change our district's policy. And, a similar site, out of Utah, has already announced it take over the archive. So, it's up to us: parents, educators, and everyone else who thinks it is wrong for an anonymous website, or even a few loud organizers, to control what students can read in their school libraries. Lawsuits and school board elections are all we have left. But what about books that really are inappropriate? There's always a chance that an educator makes a mistake when buying a book, or the content of a book isn't as advertised. School districts should do what St. Francis almost did: Create a local committee of parents, educators and volunteers to read the books in question, discuss them and make recommendations to the elected school board, which should follow the laws. The process offers transparency and welcomes different viewpoints. Yes, it's more time consuming, but local control of schools also comes with local responsibility for policies. We can respond to the expectations of our community without limiting access. Minnesotans can't expect to find solutions by following the agendas of national, anti-public-schools groups. Personally, I agree with our media specialist when she wrote, 'Each book that is removed is another voice that is being silenced. Our libraries should be filled with the voices of everyone.' If you agree, you can get involved. You can call your school board (mine could use a ring.) You can run for office. It's time for Minnesotans to protect our students' freedom to read the books they relate to so they become life-long readers, no matter their race or background, faith or ZIP code, LGBTQ+ or not.
