SCMS teacher fired after sick leave runs out

Sischo recovering from major stroke this year but set back by district’s termination
By: 
Lee Pulaski
City Editor

A 44-year-old teacher who suffered a stroke earlier this year received a pink slip from the Shawano School District after his sick leave ran out in November.

Aaron Sischo and his fiance tried to appeal to the Shawano School Board on Dec. 19, which met behind closed doors to discuss Sischo’s situation. In the end, though, the board upheld the district administration’s decision to terminate his employment.

Sischo has spent the last 22 years teaching at Shawano Community Middle School and coaching. On Jan. 2, he suffered a major stroke and has been recovering ever since.

Struggling to speak at times during community comments, Sischo said he really enjoys being a teacher.

“Shawano is the only place I’ve ever been,” he said.

Andrea Cluka, Sischo’s fiance, filled in some of the blanks on his situation. Even though Sischo is able to move around well, Cluka said there are some lingering effects from the stroke that made the district’s demand that he return to work once his sick leave ended Nov. 28 impossible.

“Physically, he looks great, and we’re all grateful for that,” Cluka said. “He was diagnosed with aphasia, which is something that affects verbal communication. It also affects his ability to read and some of his cognitive issues — short-term memory issues.”

Cluka noted Sischo spent over a week in the hospital after the stroke and has gone through many therapy sessions. An in-home nurse cared for Sischo for a couple of months, but much of the work has fallen on Cluka.

“I can’t work,” Cluka said. “I can’t leave him alone for too long because I don’t know if he’s going to take the right medication, and I’m not sure if he’s going to leave the oven on if he makes something for himself. I can’t trust him to go someplace new, to drive someplace new. Those are all things that he’s working on in therapy.”

Sischo was going through speech therapy locally, but the therapist quit in October, and he has not had any since because the therapist has not been replaced, according to Cluka.

“He’s recently started occupational therapy, and we’re hoping a new kind of therapy will help other parts of his brain to start to recover,” Cluka said. “What we heard from his neurologist is that strokes affect everybody differently. There is no set date for when he is going to be where he is when he recovers.”

Cluka noted that Sischo was originally diagnosed with a 100% recovery rate, but that has since dropped.

The district’s response to Sischo’s needs has not been good, according to Cluka, but the middle school was very kind to him in the months after his stroke. Cluka singled out then-principal Stuart Russ and many of the teachers and other staff members, who sent cards and goodies.

“We got nothing else (from the district),” Cluka said. “We’re not looking for anything but an understanding of what he’s going through. He has worked so much in the past 22 years that he has been paying with his own sick leave time from Jan. 3 to the end of November. Now we got a letter saying you guys wanted to get rid of him.”

Cluka said she felt talking to the board during the closed session would give her and Sischo a chance to “educate” officials in more detail on what he’s going through. She said that she tried to reach out to interim Superintendent Kurt Krizan on the issue and never received a response from him.

“You have an employee of over 20 years who suffered a medical condition, and nobody has reached out to us,” she said.

Cluka said she and Sischo had initially thought about speaking to the board at its Dec. 5 meeting but decided against it because emotions were high so soon after receiving the termination notice.

During a break in the closed session, Cluka said that the stroke occurred because of all the stress that staff members were feeling under the previous administration. Sischo had no intention of resigning on his own, she said.

“He loves to teach. He loves to coach,” Cluka said. “He’s supposed to live a stress-free life (after the stroke), but how can he do that?”

The termination also ends Sischo’s health insurance, just as he’s about to undergo a heart procedure, and Cluka said he doesn’t qualify for other benefits, so it’s unclear how his recovery is going to proceed from here.

“What they’re doing is unethical,” Cluka said, suggesting the board needs. “It’s legal.”

Board president Mike Musolff said he could not comment on the specifics of the Sischo situation after the meeting, but he added that the board was going to do what it could to help the teacher.


lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com