Critics Of Wausau’s Religious Music Policy Defeated in School Elections

Voters in the Wausau School District apparently have decided to move on from a religious music controversy that gained national attention last year: Three of the district’s critics were defeated yesterday.

The district’s proposed restrictions on religious music blew up at a special meeting last October, drawing hundreds of vocal opponents and the attention of the national media. Yesterday, however, voters rejected three candidates who criticized the administration’s handling of the issue, including Mary Kowatch, who blamed the Wausau Education Association teachers’ union for her defeat.

“You know, the WEA is well organized, as they showed in the informational pamphlet that was put in the teachers’ lounge,” Kowatch said. “They get out the vote.”

In the wake of the controversy, a committee of teachers and community leaders drew up new policies on religious music. Kowatch says it’s too soon to see if those procedures will work.

“I guess it’s a little bit early to tell how that will go. Communication is always good,” Kowatch said. “What they do with that communication now is up to the board and the administration.”

The voters yesterday elected two incumbent board members and newcomer Jeff Leigh, a UW-Marathon County history professor who says it’s time to move on.

“I hope it’s behind us,” Leigh said. “Now remember, this is an elemental question that we face in the United States: issues of relationship between church and state, the degree to which we want governing authorities to make decisions in our cultural life.

“These are questions that will remain with us throughout all time, but I think the district has done a good job in creating a procedure for us to deal with this,” he went on.

Jeff Leigh and Mary Kowatch both mentioned the implementation of Common Core standards as one of the district’s biggest challenges.