Over the last two weeks, parents of Butler Middle School students in Waukesha have received multiple notices from district administrators about bomb threats at the school.
School district officials and the Waukesha Police Department have determined the threats are not credible.
But a grassroots advocacy group in the city believes they are connected to political battles over LGBTQ issues in the district and a social media post on the controversial Libs of TikTok targeting an openly gay staff member at the school.
“Beyond board policies, the hyper-politicization of the Waukesha School board and deep connection between multiple school board members and the Republican Party of Waukesha County has continued to fuel the fire of anti-LGBTQ+ activity in our community,” said a post by Unwavering Waukesha, a group of Waukesha parents and residents.
In an email to WPR, Waukesha Superintendent James Sebert said the safety of all students, teachers, staff and visitors to Butler Middle School is of paramount importance.
“The School District of Waukesha remains focused on continuing to provide a safe learning environment for all of our students and staff,” Sebert said.
He did not answer questions regarding previous board and district policies. Messages to all of the school board members were not returned.
On March 4, Libs of TikTok posted two screen shots from a Butler Middle School employee’s personal social media account. The first was him saying “Acceptance, equity and inclusion should be cornerstones of our schools.” The second was a photo of him and his partner.
The Libs of TikTok post on X, formerly known as Twitter, had more than 3,000 retweets and more than 800 responses. Most comments were anti-LGBTQ, including posts calling the educator a “groomer,” “predator” and “pedophile.”
On March 8, Butler Middle School received its first bomb threat. Subsequent threats followed on March 11, 12 and 14.
Sebert and Waukesha Police Lt. Chad Pergande released a video to parents and staff on March 15.
Pergande said all four of the threats were bomb threats from outside the country. One of the threats referenced a school shooting.
“We assess these threats are not credible,” Pergande said. “They are meant to create fear and disrupt our learning environment.”
Three of four threats have come from Nigeria, Pergande said. One was tied to a Russian address.
Pergande did not name Libs of TikTok but said the threats to Butler Middle School could be a correlation to social media posts from a “staff member.”
“This is consistent with similar instances reported across the country,” he said.
Libs of TikTok has 2.9 million followers. The account has turned into a social media phenomenon and spreads anti-LGBTQ sentiment and has shaped public opinion.
There have been reports across the country of school bomb threats following Libs of TikTok posts.
That includes in Kiel, Wisconsin, where a series of bomb threats in 2022 shuttered schools, halted in-person government meetings and canceled a parade after Libs of TikTok helped amplify a one-sided narrative: That the Kiel school district was investigating three middle school boys for allegedly using the wrong pronouns to address a transgender student.
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In 2021, Waukesha was the first district in Wisconsin to require the removal of all “political” signage including Black Lives Matter, Thin Blue Line posters and rainbow signs and flags supporting LGBTQ individuals.
Four months later, a special education kindergarten teacher was suspended for displaying a rainbow flag in her classroom.
Last year the district enacted a “parental bill of rights,” which will not allow students to change their pronouns without written parental consent.
And the board voted to end any diversity, equity and inclusion work in the district.
The School District of Waukesha has gained national attention for its LGBTQ policies, including the firing of teacher Melissa Tempel and the controversy over the song “Rainbowland.”
The first-grade dual-language teacher blasted the district on social media after it excluded the song by Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton from a student performance. The lyrics were widely believed to focus on acceptance, but district officials said they found the song “could be deemed controversial.”
Tempel has since filed a federal lawsuit.
Unwavering Waukesha, the grassroots group, said the policies and rhetoric have contributed to the bomb threats, affected learning for more than 700 students at Butler and left parents worried about the safety of their children.
“Unwavering Waukesha has seen social media posts from current Butler students that amount to homophobic behavior towards the Butler staff person in question,” the group said.
“We call on the School Board of Waukesha and Superintendent James Sebert to immediately begin open and vocal support to support this staff person, recant any blame towards the staff person’s social media postings, offer more transparency to Butler’s staff, Butler parents and community members regarding the threats.”
A version of this story was first published by WPR. Wisconsin Watch has added reporting to this version.
The nonprofit Wisconsin Watch (www.WisconsinWatch.org) collaborates with WPR, PBS Wisconsin, other news media and the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Subscribe to our newsletters for original stories and our Friday news roundup.
