Following the Waukesha School Board decision on Nov. 12 to close Bethesda, Hawthorne and the former Whittier elementary schools, one school board member sent an email disputing media reporting that the decision was final. Superintendent Jim Sebert has verified the board did make its final decision regarding the consolidation plan. According to a story in the Nov. 22, 2025 issue of The Waukesha Freeman: The closures are part of the district’s long-term “Optimizing Our Future” facilities plan. Board member Diane Voit cast the lone “no” vote. Voit, who is up for reelection in April, is being threatened with a possible censure. On Monday, Voit emailed The Freeman, Sebert, Board President Kelly Piacsek, board members Thomas Harland and Bette Koenig, district cabinet members, community members and the former district spokesperson. In Voit’s email, she stated, “WE DID NOT VOTE ON WEDNESDAY TO CLOSE 3 SCHOOLS.” Voit wrote that she believed that Option E-1 plan would advance to the Dec. 10 board meeting.“This miscommunication has caused community outrage and a lot of disruption of student learning for our dual language students .” Voit’s email reads. She referenced a petition from community members calling for a pause and urging the district to “demand responsible planning including conducting an impact study before acting on the proposed closures.” Voit also noted an equity complaint alleging that closing Hawthorne would disproportionately affect Hispanic and Latino students and those with disabilities. Open records obtained by The Freeman show Piacsek emailed Voit on Monday morning, copying the district’s lawyer and Superintendent Sebert, stating, “This communication is factually inaccurate and has caused significant and unnecessary confusion in the community. This needs to stop immediately. Official communication comes from the district and Dr. Sebert, or the board president.” Board Treasurer Karrie Kozlowski also emailed Voit on Monday night, telling her that her message to the community and media “immediately triggered a social media campaign led by you and fueled by misinformation.” Kozlowski continued in her email, “This has caused the public to believe the board’s decision could be changed after the fact, despite the outcome already being legally decided by the board’s vote.” She cited state statutes, saying the vote was final board action. “Your claim that ‘no schools were voted to close’ or that the vote was ‘only for consideration’ is false and contradicts the motion, the minutes and the law.” Kozlowski added in her email: “With five years of experience on the board, there is no excuse for your disregard of established governance procedures .“This conduct is unacceptable.” Board president: Censure discussion ‘premature’ During the Nov. 12 meeting, the board voted 8-1 to approve the plan. Voit cast the only “no.” Kozlowski wrote in an email to Voit that a “no” vote does not allow a member to “publicly contradict, reinterpret, or invalidate a legally adopted action.” She wrote in her email that Voit’s conduct violated several board policies and said: “More concerning is your decision to act simultaneously as a board member and an activist, community figure, publicly campaigning to overturn the parliamentary action you participated in. This is a clear conflict of interest .” If Voit did not immediately correct the misinformation “under your name,” Kozlowski’s email said, she would support and initiate a formal consideration of a censure. The Freeman emailed Piacsek on Thursday who replied, “As far as I’m concerned, discussion about censure is premature, but I appreciate the frustration this messaging and misinformation has caused for board members as well as families and community members. The district’s work now needs to be focused on finalizing the details families need to make informed decisions in January.” In a reply email to Kozlowski, Voit said she was disappointed by what she viewed as attempts to keep her from asking questions on behalf of the community. “The purpose of my communication on Monday was not to question the board vote but clarify the timeline for implementation.” She said that with so many different closure options, she, “could not comprehend that all of the closures would occur NEXT YEAR.” Voit questioned, in her email to Kozlowski the “disruption” to students at the end of the school year when “there is no financial crisis.” “My goal was not to challenge the decision on the plan, but to encourage reconsideration of the time- line for implementation that would cause the least disruption of learning and stability in our schools,” Voit wrote. She ended with a pointed question: “What do you want your legacy to be? “You are not a victim in this process and the repeated claim that you are being ‘silenced’ is entirely false.” Kozlowski said Voit had raised the same concerns repeatedly in public meetings. “The concern is not your ability to speak; it is your conduct,” Kozlowski said, accusing Voit of continuing to create public confusion. Voit wrote back Tuesday morning, saying she was “denied the opportunity to raise questions during the board workshop because her access to Webex (web conferencing)” had been removed and her emailed questions had gone unanswered. “I am not the victim, but the advocate for thou- sands impacted by this unreasonable implementation plan. They deserve a voice at the table!” Void wrote. “I have been elected to be that advocate to voice their concerns for them. Consider them instead of your obvious hatred of me demonstrated over and over during this three-year term.” Voit pushes back on timeline Voit had a follow-up phone conversation with The Freeman on Thursday. She said she appreciated Sebert explaining the plan and the reasons why the decision was made. Voit said more information wasn’t shared ahead of time. She said she believes the board can still revise the implementation timeline. “If they realize that’s not what the community wants, there’s still hope to wait a year,” she said. Voit insisted she never claimed the board’s vote didn’t pass. She was questioning the implementation plans for the closures. “I just wanted clarification, and that’s what ended up happening,” Voit said. She added implementation should come only after community review. “Implementation is one of the things that needs to have more community input,” she said. On Friday, Voit emailed The Freeman, several school board members, Sebert, community members and the cabinet members. In her email she clarified why she cast the sole “no” vote saying her opposition was not to the plan itself, but to the implementation timeline.
https://wnanews.com/2025/11/24/records-request-yields-emails-showing-waukesha-school-board-member-threatened-with-censure/
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