A video emerged from last week’s Baraboo High School graduation ceremony showing a man pushing the school superintendent away before he could shake hands with his daughter. The video has sparked criticism, with some calling it racist.
A citation from the Baraboo Police Department shows the father has been charged with disorderly conduct and is scheduled to appear in Sauk County Circuit Court in August. A judge has also ordered the man to have no contact with Superintendent Renee Briggs after a temporary restraining order was filed; a hearing is scheduled for June 14.
The Journal Sentinel is not naming the man so as not to reveal his daughter’s identity.
It’s unclear what prompted the incident, but the incident has sparked accusations of racism since the father is white and Briggs is black.
State Rep. Francesca Hong, D-Madison, posted on X that “no one should have to tolerate this type of hateful and racist conduct.”
In an interview with the Journal Sentinel, Hong, who does not represent the district but has met with the superintendent, said she voiced her opinion on the incident because it was a “very racist attack on a superintendent.”
“There wasn’t anyone else he would have pushed out of the way, unless there was some other deliberate reason for doing so,” Hong said.
Hong said the incident highlights how “pervasive and problematic” racism is in Wisconsin.
The school district has been mired in controversy in recent months. School Board President Kevin Wodak is facing a recall effort, with organizers saying he misused taxpayer money by raising the salaries of Briggs and another district administrator.
Wodak was also on stage at the graduation on Friday. The man who interrupted the ceremony did not stop his daughter from shaking hands with Wodak.
In a June 4 statement, the Baraboo Board of Education said it does not condone “threatening, intimidating or physically harmful behavior against anyone in our school district community.”
“We understand that there are many people who care deeply about student education, and who come with different understandings and ideas about how to best provide that education. We value the civic dialogue that allows us to have conversations about those ideas; it is a cornerstone of our democracy,” the statement said. “As we prepare our students to be engaged as citizens and community members, the adults in their lives must provide models of how to engage in productive civic dialogue.”
The statement further spoke directly about the father’s behavior.
“The fact that this adult had the courage to behave in this way in front of hundreds of students and other adults is deeply disturbing to all of us; this type of behavior will not be tolerated.”
Baraboo is a city of about 12,500 people near Wisconsin Dells, and is the county seat of Sauk County.
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Video shows man shoving school official
The event was shown in a recording of the May 31 graduation ceremony on local television station Max TV.
In the video, a high school graduate can be seen smiling and shaking hands with Wodak and other school officials while receiving her diploma. As she reaches the end of the line, a man, whom the district identified as the graduate’s father, is seen pushing Briggs out of the line.
In the restraining order against the man, Briggs wrote that the man told Briggs he “would not touch my (expletive) daughter.”
The graduate student can be seen pausing for a few moments with a confused look before she turns the tassel to the other side of her hat and walks off the stage. Other officers watch as others come on stage and begin to help handle the incident.
In a statement, the Baraboo School District said the incident is under active investigation and they cannot comment on specific details.
In the statement, a district spokesperson confirmed that the man in the video was the father of a graduate; that he disrupted the ceremony by “storming the stage”; and that a school resource officer, along with two off-duty police officers “assisted in managing the situation to ensure the safety of all in attendance.”
The statement also said that the person was thrown out of the venue.
“Our primary focus is on celebrating the accomplishments of our graduates,” the statement said. “We want to ensure that the significance of this milestone and the hard work of our students is not overshadowed by this unfortunate incident.”
A school district spokesperson had not responded to the Journal Sentinel’s request for an interview with the superintendent by the time of publication. Attempts to contact the school board president were unsuccessful.
