Baraboo School District Releases 12-Point Plan After Controversial Photo

In a letter sent to parents on Tuesday, the Baraboo School District has outlined a plan for how it will respond to a controversial photo of students that went viral last month.

The photo showed an entire class of boys giving what appears to be a Nazi salute before prom last year.

At an event last month, district superintendent Lori Mueller said the district would be taking a restorative approach with the students in the photo.

“Please understand that the photo as alleged is an issue of free speech and as such, is a protected right,” she said. “Our focus as a district is shifting to work hand-in-hand with these students on restorative practices that can come from their hearts.”

The 12-point plan includes more education about the Holocaust for students, including annual field trips for Baraboo High School students to the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center. For middle-school students, the district will invite Holocaust speakers to the school annually. Officials also said the district will review and revise its social media teaching and learning practices.

Some parents and community members have expressed concern for the boys in the photo because of the negative attention they’re receiving. The plan said that the district will continue to provide mental health support to students and staff who are “experiencing trauma from global media attention.”

There are about 3,000 students in the Baraboo School District.

The final point in the plan is a full day of “peace assemblies and sessions” for Baraboo High School students on Dec. 18. One of the partners in that day’s programming is Elana Kahn, of the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation. The programming will involve a session on anti-Semitism and stories from Holocaust survivors, she said.

“There’s obviously a decreasing number of Holocaust survivors, so it’s a real opportunity for these young people in the school to hear from somebody who experienced the attempted genocide of the Jewish people and others.” she said.

Although the school’s lack of punishment for the students in the photos has drawn intense scrutiny on social media, Kahn said she thinks a restorative approach is best for young people.

“It is really about focusing on the impact of being part of a photo like that, of being part of creating an image like that, which is about the dissemination of hate,” she said.

The plan comes along with a series of events the district has put on since the photo was first reported, and later was shown on local, national and international news. The first, “Baraboo Gathers,” was an opportunity for community leaders and local faith leaders to speak. The second, “Baraboo Talks” included time for public comment. The third, “Baraboo Acts” will begin with an event at the Al Ringling Theatre on Dec. 17.