Deborah Kades
Tim LeMonds at 5/25/23 court hearing
Madison school district spokesperson Tim LeMonds did not want a 14-page complaint filed against him by current and former staffers made public.
As chief spokesperson for the Madison school district, Tim LeMonds’ job is to provide information to the public. But now the Madison Metropolitan School District will be releasing information that LeMonds would like to keep out of the public eye.
Dane County Judge Rhonda Lanford ruled Thursday that the district must release a 14-page complaint filed against LeMonds, the district’s executive director of communications. The complaint was filed by current and former staffers.
Release of the documents would harm LeMonds’ reputation and interfere with his ability to do his job effectively, argued LeMonds’ attorney, Randall Gold, in a hearing before Lanford issued her ruling.
Lanford said that the interests of the public outweigh any reputational damage to LeMonds.
“Doesn’t the public have a right to information about how the public school officer conducts himself? In fact, isn’t that what the allegation is?” Lanford asked.
The state Supreme Court has ruled that individuals’ reputations are less important than the public’s interest, she said. “There is a significant public interest in the release of documents pertaining to investigations into public employees.”
While Gold argued that the complaint is not of interest to the public, attorney Maxted Lenz, representing local NBC affiliate WMTV, disagreed.
“It’s hard to square given that WMTV is not the only news agency in the court covering this hearing today,” Lenz said, motioning to the gallery where several reporters from other news outlets were seated.
WMTV is the party that made the open records request to the district to obtain the complaint against LeMonds.
“The state open records law should be construed with the presumption of complete access,” Lenz argued.
LeMonds, by his own admission, is a high-profile public employee, Lenz said, adding that state courts have ruled that high-profile employees should have a lower expectation of privacy regarding employment records than other employees.
The open records request is not WMTV’s only interest in issues concerning LeMonds.
During the State of the District event on Jan. 31 at East High School, LeMonds prevented WMTV reporter Elizabeth Wadas from approaching Superintendent Carlton Jenkins in an encounter captured on video. LeMonds said that Jenkins was speaking to the public. Wadas insisted she was part of the public, too.
In another incident, LeMonds placed his hand on Wadas’ microphone and moved the microphone and her hand away from him. “I don’t want to be recorded anymore,” he said.
WMTV requested and received all emails from the district that mentioned WMTV itself and reporter Wadas.
LeMonds filed his suit on March 24 to prevent release of the complaint. In a court filing on March 30 the school district responded that it believed the documents should be released without any redactions. In December 2022, the district had decided that the complaints were without merit.
Deborah Kades is a former reporter for the Wisconsin State Journal, and a recently retired Madison teacher.
[Disclosure: Isthmus editor Judith Davidoff and Judge Lanford are married.]
