A Madison-area school district continues to face fallout after a top administrator was charged with multiple counts related to child pornography that police say involved students at a school.
Parents in the Sun Prairie Area School District have accused the administration of enabling Robert Gilkey-Meisegeier’s predatory behavior by “ignoring complaints, dismissing concerns, and silencing or intimidating those who tried to speak up.”
Gilkey-Meisegeier, 30, the former Sun Prairie West High School dean of students, was arrested in July and charged in state and federal court with producing, attempting to produce and possessing child pornography.
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The federal indictment alleges that on May 16, 2025, Gilkey-Meisegeier produced and attempted to produce images of child pornography, and that he possessed images of child pornography on June 1, 2025.
After the arrest, parents formed the Sun Prairie Community for Safer Schools, calling for more transparency and responsibility from leadership.
“This culture of silence created a protective shield around the accused and allowed the abuse to continue unchecked,” the group alleges.
Earlier this month, parent Justin Smith filed a civil lawsuit, alleging that the district violated Wisconsin’s open meetings law by repeatedly holding closed-door meetings and failing to be transparent with the public.
Superintendent Brad Saron did not respond to requests for comment.
On Aug. 15, the school board released a statement saying the district is committed to transparency.
“As we move forward, the Board remains steadfast in our commitment to transparency, accountability, and the safety of every child,” the statement says. “We recognize that restoring trust requires both openness and responsible action, and we will provide updates as information becomes available.”
This week, the district released Gilkey-Meisegeier’s personnel records and other documents providing a timeline that showed when the district became aware of the alleged inappropriate issues.
An anonymous tip in April first alerted the district about Gilkey-Meisegeier
On April 3, 2025, the district received a message alleging Gilkey-Meisegeier was engaging in inappropriate behavior with a student that included spending time together, giving her rides, sending multiple text messages and buying her gifts.
“Given these facts, I am deeply concerned about the appropriateness of their relationship,” the message said. “I believe (name removed) may deny these occurrences, as it seems Robert has manipulated and groomed her to the point where she may not recognize the situation as inappropriate.”
District records show the message was forwarded to Sun Prairie West Principal Jennifer Ploeger on April 4 by Director of Student Policy and School Operations Bridget Kotarak.
Ploeger placed Gilkey-Meisegeier on paid administrative leave that same day.
During a meeting on April 7, Gilkey-Meisegeier admitted to giving the student a ride home and texting students because he was a coach.
He denied any other wrongdoing.
The student’s mother said she wasn’t concerned and the student denied there was a problem, according to district records.
Gilkey-Meisegeier returned to work April 8.
He was fired June 9, following several other behavioral concerns, including allegedly failing to report a student performing a sex act on another teacher.
Since Gilkey-Meisegeier’s firing and arrest, Ploeger was removed from her position.
Multiple other staff members have been placed on leave and the school district has hired a Milwaukee-area attorney to lead an independent investigation into how the Gilkey-Meisegeier allegations were handled by district staff.
Parent responds to district situation
Jamison Rabbitt has had two children graduate from the Sun Prairie school district and one child still in middle school with the district.
He said the “continuous drip of horrible news” has been incredibly frustrating.
Rabbitt said his older children had to deal with a former middle school teacher being charged with child pornography.
Matthew Quaglieri was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison in April for recording students in a middle school bathroom.
“I feel like our school district has harmed our children in numerous and long-lasting ways,” Rabbitt said. “I feel like transparency is preached, but not shown, not acted upon by the upper ends of the school district. And I feel like it’s just been a massive failure for the families in Sun Prairie.”
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