Father of Baraboo High School graduate blocks superintendent from shaking daughter's hand
The man ran onto the stage just after his daughter had been handed her diploma and began working her way down a line of school officials shaking hands.
Father of Baraboo High School graduate blocks superintendent from shaking daughter's hand
- John Gittings
- Jun 3, 2024
The father of a Baraboo High School graduate forcibly pulled the district superintendent away from his daughter as she crossed the stage to receive a congratulatory handshake during the school’s graduation ceremony Friday.
The man, who is not being named to protect his daughter’s identity, ran onto the stage just after the girl had been handed her diploma and began working her way down a line of school officials shaking hands.
Before she could get to district Superintendent Rainey Briggs, the man, wearing a white polo shirt and baseball cap, grabbed Briggs by his right arm and pushed him away.
“That’s my daughter,” the man can be heard saying in video of the ceremony by TV43 Baraboo.
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Briggs can be heard telling the man, “You better get up off me man. Get away from me bro” as staff working the graduation and three Baraboo police officers including the school resource officer intervened. At one point, a voice can be heard saying, “I don’t want her touching him.”
Police escorted the man out of the school following the incident.
School Board President Kevin Vodak, board members Gwynne Peterson, Katie Kalish and Amy DeLong, and Baraboo High School Principal Steve Considine shared the stage with Briggs. The man did not interact with any of them but only confronted Briggs.
In a statement, district spokesperson Hailey Wagner said a disorderly conduct charge for the man was referred to the Sauk County District Attorney’s Office.
“We would like to emphasize that the safety and well-being of our students, staff, and community members is a top priority,” the statement said.
Baraboo residents looking to recall School Board president
Friday’s graduation ceremony came during a particularly fraught time in the district. A large group of residents, including a former district teacher who worked in the district prior to Briggs’ tenure, have voiced numerous complaints against Briggs, other administrators and the School Board.The group is currently attempting to recall Vodak and has until July 14 to submit more than 2,500 signatures to force a recall election. If the campaign is successful, Vodak said the election would be in late August or early September at the earliest. Vodak is up for re-election next spring.
Critics have accused Vodak of favoritism toward the administration, providing inadequate pay and administrative support for teachers, and unfairly firing the former Jack Young Middle School principal, Abby Alt, and school resource officer, Amanda Sabol, among others.
Many of those grievances have been shared through social media, including the Baraboo Community Conversations and Baraboo SD WI Parents’ Rights in Education Facebook pages.
