Oshkosh school administrator sues district for job back

OSHKOSH – The Vel Phillips Middle School administrator at the center of an incident in which a 13-year-old student was handcuffed and pinned under a school resource officer for more than two minutes is trying to get his job back.

Ten months after his contract was not renewed, former Dean of Students Christopher Willems is seeking reinstatement and compensatory damages in a three-claim lawsuit against the Oshkosh Area School District claiming a breach of contract.

Willems filed the civil suit in Winnebago County Circuit Court March 27, alleging the district violated the terms of a Jan. 24 disciplinary agreement and did not renew his contract for “arbitrary and capricious reasons.”

OASD declined comment for this story, but court documents show the district asked for the case to be dismissed on multiple grounds including saying Willems was given due process and the nonrenewal of a contract is not disciplinary action.

No date has been set for future court proceedings.

Willems’ departure from the district stems from his role in an incident Jan. 10, 2025, in which he called for a school resource officer’s assistance to help with a student who refused to hand his cell phone to another teacher.

The SRO’s body camera footage shows Willems shoving the kid through a door several minutes before he pushes that student up against a wall and assists the SRO in restraining the child.

A district investigation showed OASD took issue with Willems on four separate issues during the incident, prompting a disciplinary agreement that resulted in him being suspended Jan. 27-31 and reassigned to another school.

But OASD subsequently informed Willems he was being placed on non-disciplinary administrative leave with pay for the remainder of the 2024-25 school year on Feb. 26 — the same day the Northwestern published two articles about the Jan. 10 incident.

One of the articles referenced his prior involvement with students of color, as Black and biracial students were expelled from the former Merrill Middle School following a fight with a white pupil in a Donald Trump costume. The white student went unpunished.

In that Feb. 26 letter, OASD said Willems’ reassignment “will most likely be met with disruption by those not satisfied with the disciplinary outcome” considering “the race component of the prior incident.”

OASD’s Board of Education then upheld the district’s decision not to renew Willems’ contract May 6.

According to the suit, Willems entered into that initial disciplinary agreement “with the understanding that the matter was closed,” saying he would not challenge “the discipline” in exchange for the district seeking no further action.

A copy of that disciplinary agreement was entered as evidence in the court documents, with a section of the agreement stating, “The District agrees that it has concluded its investigation and there shall be no further discipline for the incident of January 10, 2025.”

Willems also claimed OASD praised him for the handling of the prior situation at Merril Middle School, contending there was no evidence presented at the May 6 meeting that his employment would cause a likely disruption.

He further alleged that counsel for the district said OASD “was not required to prove Willems’ presence would actually cause a disruption — it was enough that [OASD Superintendent Bryan] Davis believed this to be the case.”

Calling the nonrenewal arbitrary and capricious, Willems said he was damaged by the loss of employment, wages and benefits as well as the inability to complete an internship for his director of instruction license.

Willems contends the district revoked an approval for him to chaperone student trips to the Dominican Republic and Japan over the summer months through a third party.

Willems is seeking the following in the suit:

• reinstatement to a full-time teaching position in the district;
• compensatory damages in an amount equal to his salary, stipend and benefits for the 2025-26 school year;
• compensatory damages equal to the losses incurred due to not finishing his internship and losing chaperone opportunities;
• compensatory damages due to losing earning capacity over the summer months; and
• attorney fees and other litigation costs.

Responding to Willems’ claims, OASD argued against violating terms of the disciplinary agreement, saying the nonrenewal of a contract is not disciplinary action.

The district said it “acted rationally and without malice” in the decision not to renew Willems, denying that no evidence was presented to prove Willems’ presence would result in a “likely disruption to the educational environment” as a result of the Jan. 10 incident.

Wisconsin Education Association Council attorney Rebecca Osborn is representing Willems while Ronald Stadler and Dawn Klockow have been retained by OASD. Scott Woldt is the presiding judge.