Marshfield School Board Votes to Consult Legal Counsel Regarding Member Involved in Lawsuit
Friday, January 12th, 2018 -- 8:00 AM
(WDLB) ??"The Marshfield School Board voted 4-to-2 to consult with its legal counsel to determine whether member Mary Carney violated any district board policies by participating in a lawsuit against State School Superintendent Tony Evers.Board member Amber Kiggens-Leifheit made the motion to proceed with legal consultation. Carney and Frances Bohon voted "no". Carney is a plaintiff in the lawsuit, which was filed by the Milwaukee-based Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, and claims that Evers and the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction are not following the “Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny”, or “REINS”, Act. And while Carney is participating in the lawsuit as a taxpaying citizen and not a district official, Steuland issued a statement last month to clarify that Carney does not represent the Board of Education as a whole.
Carney, meanwhile, has said she will not take her name off the lawsuit, and that she is acting as an individual taxpayer on behalf of all taxpayers in Wisconsin, not as a representative of the Marshfield School Board. The “REINS” Act was signed into law by Governor Scott Walker in August. It gives the state legislature more oversight over state agencies when they make rules. The lawsuit that Carney has signed on to claims that Evers and the D-P-I have violated the REINS Act by not sending scope statements to the Department of Administration.
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