A Wisconsin school district is being sued for keeping parents in the dark about a transgender-identifying teacher's male-to-female gender "transition," which elementary through high school students were informed of in class without prior parental notification.
On the morning of June 5, the second-to-last day of the school year, all orchestra students at Northstar Middle School were required to report to the music room during homeroom period. There, the middle school students found orchestra teacher Jacob Puccio, a school counselor, and Eau Claire Area School District (ECASD)'s diversity, equity, and inclusion director, Dang Yang.
Facebook profile picture of ECASD teacher Jacob "Carly Grace" Puccio
Students were told that Puccio, a biological male, would be undergoing a gender transition and that, moving forward, the children were to address the instructor as "Ms. Puccio," now-named "Carly Grace." The students were then directed to either stay and listen to Puccio's coming-out story or go to the practice room in the interim. Reportedly, no students left the meeting.
Facebook cover photo of Jacob "Carly Grace" Puccio
Based on secondhand information, the assembled students were told the teacher felt like a girl from an early age and experienced childhood trauma because family and friends did not accept that Puccio was the opposite sex from what was "assigned at birth." The DEI lecture to the middle schoolers also discussed a medical procedure Puccio was set to undergo.
An old image of Jacob "Carly Grace" Puccio pre-transition | MeritPages.com
In addition, shortly after the middle school talk occurred, a scripted statement crafted by ECASD detailing Puccio's transition was read to multiple classes of elementary and high school music students in the Chippewa County district, including North High School and at least three elementary schools (Sam Davey Elementary, Locust Lane Elementary, and Northwoods Elementary).
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Prior to the in-person session, staff at the school were aware that the discussion would take place, but parents were not notified in advance. To date, no parents were given any details as to what their children were told about Puccio's purported sex-change.
When parent-turned-plaintiff Leah Buchman, a mother of four with kids in orchestra and band, requested a copy of the script recited to the students, the district denied the request, refusing to allow the mother access to the document that was read aloud to children across the district. Per faculty instructions, it was "a verbal presentation only" and "not to be shared electronically."
Email to ECASD parent Leah Buchman | Courtesy of Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL)
In a separate rejection of Buchman's public records request, an ECASD attorney claimed the document could not be disclosed due to an investigation underway into whether any "employee acted improperly with respect to the June 6 [sic] events in Ms. Puccio's classroom." The ongoing investigation is being conducted to "reconstruct the facts surrounding the event itself and the planning that would have taken place prior to the event (as well as determining whether any District policies may have been violated)," the lawyer emailed. Thus, the pending probe "does affect the handling" of Buchman's request, the attorney wrote.
With the help of parental rights stalwart Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL), Buchman has filed a civil complaint to obtain the withheld documents, alleging that ECASD's refusal to release the script violates Wisconsin's open records law.
According to the lawsuit, the DEI director told parents he was responsible for "supporting and guiding" the trans teacher, and the superintendent has stated he is "proud of the thoughtfulness and intentionality" behind the message's presentation to students.
Eau Claire-based law firm Weld Riley, S.C., the office representing ECASD, responded to Townhall's request for comment:
At this time, the District has not been served with WILL's complaint and we have not reviewed the complaint.
The law does not permit release of the requested records because of a currently pending investigation. After the events of June 5 and the inquiries received from certain parents, it was decided that there should be a formal investigation of the events of that day (and the planning that preceded that day) to determine if there were any missteps under school district policy.
With the summer season upon us, the investigation has encountered some issues with witness/employee availability. Work on the investigation is ongoing.
"All I am asking is for the school district to provide what was told to my children and their peers in the classroom," Buchman commented via a statement in WILL's press release issued Tuesday. "As a parent, it's my responsibility to help my kids understand all that life throws their way, and I do not understand why it has taken the school district so long to update parents."
In Eau Claire, the public school district had its personnel read a scripted statement to dozens of minor students, and at least one parent (and @WILawLiberty) requested a copy of that statement. Our requests were denied. We're not backing down. https://t.co/hH90gqBqXS
— Cory Brewer (@CoryJBrewer) July 25, 2023
"It's ridiculous for a school district to refuse to produce a statement that was read out loud to dozens of minor students in several district classrooms. What was told to these kids should be readily accessible to parents," stated WILL legal counsel Cory Brewer.
At the time of publication, Puccio did not provide comment on the complaint.
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