Sun Pairie Area School District Superintendent Brad Saron will depart the district to become superintendent in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, at the end of the academic year, the district announced in a press release Tuesday.
School district residents in attendance at the district’s annual meeting in October passed a vote of no confidence in Saron’s leadership. His 10-year tenure at the district has been tumultuous, culminating in the arrest of the West High School dean of students, Robert Gilkey-Meisegeier, on 13 counts of child pornography and two counts of child exploitation.
The investigation into Gilkey Meisegeier’s conduct also led to the suspension of Human Resources Director Christopher Sadler and West High School Principal Jenner Pfloegger, both of whose licenses are also under investigation by the Department of Public Instruction.
Gilkey-Meisegeier did not have a teaching license when hired as Dean of Students, and to apply for a provisional license, Sadler certified to the DPI that there were no other acceptable, fully-licensed candidates for the job. In fact, a Madison365 analysis of district records found that 11 of the 24 applications for the job had valid teaching licenses at the time, and two also had administrators’ licenses.
The district announced in August that it would hire an outside party to conduct a complete investigation, and told Madison365 earlier this month that results of that investigation would be made available soon.
Saron also oversaw a number of race-related controversies, including a middle school social studies activity in which students were asked how they would punish a slave. Administrators subsequently falsely claimed the district had engaged the YWCA of Dane County to assist with restorative practices; three teachers ultimately resigned as a result.
Other incidents include the suspension of three students after a Black student brought a hair trimmer to school, which was deemed a weapon; the adoption of reading curriculum seen as racist toward Native Americans; and altercations at basketball games that led to the resignation of an athletic director in 2023 and firing of a coach in 2024, both Black.
“We are grateful for Dr. Saron’s leadership and service to the Sun Prairie Area School District,” school board Vice President Bryn Horton said in a statement. “He has led with integrity and vision during a time of tremendous growth and change. While we will miss his leadership, we respect his decision and wish him continued success in his next chapter.”
