A former Wisconsin Principal of the Year says he was targeted by a coordinated campaign of leaked records, altered documents, and an anonymous letter falsely accusing him of child grooming, all because he is gay. Jeffrey Peterson, who ran Raymond Elementary School in Racine County until the district declined to renew his contract in 2024, has filed a federal lawsuit naming the Raymond School District, school board members, and private political operatives as defendants.
The lawsuit, first detailed by FOX6 News Milwaukee, names 10 defendants and includes 11 formal legal claims. According to the complaint, Raymond School District leaders and political operatives conspired to harass, defame, and ultimately fire Peterson because of his sexual orientation. Peterson filed the federal case in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin in October 2024, under case number 2:24-cv-01279, as detailed by court records reviewed by Docket Alarm.
Among the most striking allegations in the suit: Kari Morgan, a former Village of Raymond president, took a public record packet of more than 100 pages and extracted a targeted 36-page subset, per the lawsuit. Morgan then allegedly loaded those targeted records onto thumb drives along with an anonymous letter accusing Peterson of child grooming, and removed exculpatory evidence supporting Peterson from that subset before it went out, the lawsuit states.
Records, a Leak, and a Vice Chair's Promise
The lawsuit also alleges that Amanda Falaschi coordinated with Joann Koenecke, identified as Moms for Liberty vice chair, to leak the altered records to reporters. According to the complaint, Koenecke said, “I am the one to get the info to the media.” The suit reports that the alleged disclosure both harmed Peterson's reputation and caused him financial harm after he lost his job as principal.
Peterson's complaint further alleges that Raymond School District officials published his private partner information on the school's website and, separately, released private information including the name and sex of his partner in response to public record requests. Peterson has asked the court to order the district to redact his private health and partner records from public websites and from any future record requests, according to the lawsuit.
A Broader Pattern Peterson Says Began in 2021
According to the The Advocate, Peterson's state discrimination complaint traces the trouble back to shortly after he took the principal job in July 2021, when he alleges district officials abruptly canceled his male partner's health insurance and claimed same-sex partners could not be added to family plans. Peterson has alleged that the Raymond School District, its school board, and conservative interest groups initiated a targeted effort to remove him as principal, according to the lawsuit, and he claims in his state filings that anti-LGBTQ hostility within the district escalated after school board candidates backed by conservative grassroots groups like Convention of States Action won local elections.
That political shift culminated in a formal board vote. The Raymond School Board voted 4-1 in September 2023 to begin non-renewal proceedings against Peterson and placed him on administrative leave, a process that ended with the non-renewal of his contract in March 2024, according to FOX6 Milwaukee. Raymond Elementary is a single-school K-8 district in Racine County. During the September 2023 board hearing, the school was placed on a soft lockdown while police investigated an anonymous threatening letter mailed to a board member, even as dozens of parents gathered outside holding “Keep Principal Peterson” signs, per the same outlet's reporting.
A Reprimand Over Stuffed Animals Becomes a Flashpoint
Personnel records show the district issued Peterson a written reprimand in November 2022 over a virtual, COVID-era student scavenger hunt, a matter board leadership later cited during non-renewal proceedings. Peterson has explained that the activity involved teachers conducting virtual bedtime stories, during which students voluntarily showed stuffed animals over video, the station's report notes.
Before turning to federal court, Peterson pursued state administrative remedies. The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development's Equal Rights Division issued probable cause determinations finding that the Raymond School District discriminated and retaliated against him, according to reporting by WGTD. That finding led Chief U.S. District Judge Pamela Pepper to administratively stay the federal case in January 2025 while the state proceedings continued, since the Wisconsin Fair Employment Act prohibits employment discrimination based on sexual orientation.
WGTD also reported that Peterson has asked the court to order his reinstatement as principal or award him 10 years of back and front pay, arguing that public controversy surrounding his removal has kept him from securing comparable work in Wisconsin schools. His complaint separately requests back pay, front pay, compensatory damages, and punitive damages. The lawsuit's demands underscore what the dossier's own sourcing flags as an open question for a small district: the potential financial exposure if damages or a decade of front pay are ultimately awarded.
ACLU Sought Board Communications, District Declines Comment
The ACLU of Wisconsin submitted an open records request in November 2023 demanding communications from all five Raymond school board members, including Board President Audrey Kostuch and Vice President Janell Wise, along with the superintendent, regarding Peterson's suspension, disciplinary investigations, and discussions of LGBTQ+ issues in curriculum. That request, detailed in a release from the ACLU of Wisconsin, sought to shed light on internal board deliberations during the period of Peterson's ouster.
The Raymond School District superintendent declined to comment, citing ongoing litigation. FOX6 News reported it contacted everyone named in the lawsuit and received no responses. Peterson has since returned to public school administration: he was hired in October 2025 as principal of Lincoln Elementary School in the Wauwatosa School District, a suburban district in neighboring Milwaukee County, according to information shared by the Wauwatosa School District.
