Board still weighing fate of kindergarten teacher who attacked Walker signs

By M.D. Kittle | Wisconsin Reporter

MADISON, Wis. – Germantown School Board members need more time to decide on potential disciplinary action against April Kay Smith, the kindergarten teacher who stomped on GOP signs at the Jefferson County Fair because she was “just so angry with (Gov.) Scott Walker.

The board met Monday evening in closed session to discuss the matter, but did not make any final decision, Germantown Superintendent Jeff Holmes said in a statement. He added that the board requested more information concerning the July incident.

“We hope to be in a position to reach a final conclusion in this matter before the holiday break and we’ll keep our school district’s constituents informed,” Holmes said in the statement.

Smith, a teacher at Germantown’s Amy Belle Elementary School, remains on paid administrative leave after confessing to the incident in Jefferson. The district is statutorily bound to pay Smith during her absence.

Smith, 39, first denied, then admitted to Jefferson County authorities she damaged several signs at the Jefferson County Republican Party booth after the fair had shut down for the night July 9.

An incident report obtained by Wisconsin Reporter in August notes Smith “confessed to damaging and ripping out the signs.”

“She stated her husband told her to lie and that she’s just so angry with (Gov.) Scott Walker due to the fact that she was a school teacher,” the report states.

Walker’s collective-bargaining reforms, known as Act 10, checked the power of public employee labor unions and sparked the ire of many state and local government employees.

Smith was tracked down by a fair-goer who was relaxing by the GOP tent and disgusted by what she saw.

Roxane Stillman followed Smith around the fairgrounds, calling for a police officer. A Jefferson County deputy finally arrived and interviewed Smith, who appeared “to have glassy and bloodshot eyes and slurred speech,” according to the report. The document states Smith tested .06 in a preliminary breath test, below the legal limit of intoxication.

At that time, Smith told the deputy she was a kindergarten teacher from Germantown, the report states.

Smith was scheduled to appear in late October in Jefferson County Court on a disorderly conduct charge. Instead, she pled no contest to the charge and paid $169 in court assessments, according to online court records.

Smith could not be reached for comment.