OCONTO COUNTY (NBC 26) — A financial settlement of $400,000 has been reached in Suring in connection with a controversial case.
- In 2022, the Oconto County district attorney at the time said then-Suring School Superintendent Kelly Casper, with the help of the school nurse, searched six female students for vaping materials and the students were asked to disrobe down to their undergarments. Casper was charged with six counts of false imprisonment, all of the counts were later dismissed.
- The settlement is split among six students, according to an attorney representing the students.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
A financial settlement of $400,000 has been reached in Suring in connection with a controversial case.
In 2022, the Oconto County district attorney at the time said then-Suring School Superintendent Kelly Casper, with the help of the school nurse, searched six female students for vaping materials and the students were asked to disrobe down to their undergarments.
Casper was charged with six counts of false imprisonment.
A judge later dismissed all of those charges. Casper resigned from the school district.
In this financial settlement, Attorney Jeff Scott Olson represented the students and said the settlement of $400,000 is divided among the six students or about $65,000 for each student.
The current Suring Public Schools superintendent said the District's insurance carrier paid the settlement, subject to a District deductible.
The settlement, while not an admission of liability, brought "...vindication for my clients," Olson said.
Olson said the settlement, signed in late 2023, brought a sense of closure for his clients, and "...they're all more than ready to move on with their lives," Olson said.
Olson said his clients seek privacy and did not want to comment on the settlement.
NBC 26 called a phone number listed for Casper, the former Suring superintendent, for comment on the settlement.
A man who answered and identified himself as Casper's husband said he would pass along the message to her; NBC 26 had not heard back.
The school board president of Suring Public Schools had no comment on the settlement.
Asked for any district comment on the settlement, current Suring Public Schools Superintendent Paul Orlich emailed a response that said, in part:
"The settlement of these claims was made by the District’s insurance carrier, and the settlement amounts were paid by the insurance carrier subject only to the District’s deductible. "
