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Former River Valley teacher drops lawsuit to keep misconduct investigation records sealed
Heather Brickl, a former River Valley teacher who later substituted in Reedsburg, dropped her lawsuit on Oct. 8 to keep a Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction investigation into her relationship with a student secret. The records, obtained through an open records request, reveal administrators were alerted to inappropriate messages and photos in 2022, though no evidence of a physical relationship was found.
MADISON, Wis. â A former River Valley teacher who later worked as a substitute in the Reedsburg School District has dropped her legal effort to keep state investigation records sealed, according to court and agency documents.
Heather Brickl abandoned her lawsuit on Oct. 8, allowing the release of a Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction investigation into her relationship with a student. The records, obtained through an open records request, show that school administrators were first alerted to concerns in 2022.
According to the DPI records, Brickl told investigators she had added the student on Snapchat and that they exchanged messages and photos. She described some of their conversations as touching on "deeper things." Two students told administrators they saw a photo of Brickl in a bikini on the student's phone. The student said he also received images of her pulling up her shirt and showing her backside in a thong, the records state.
Brickl denied sending photos with her shirt up, but acknowledged sending the student a picture of herself lying on a beach chair in a bathing suit, according to the DPI records. She said she may have sent more pictures while drinking. She also told investigators she wanted a more significant relationship with the student when he was older and asked him to share a hotel room with her, though she claimed the suggestion was a joke.
No evidence of a physical relationship was found, the records show.
Brickl resigned from River Valley Schools on Dec. 14, 2022, and later worked as a substitute in Reedsburg. She surrendered her teaching license in 2023 after the investigation was launched.
The case has drawn attention to a broader controversy at DPI. The agency recently changed its policies after complaints that educators could give up their licenses in exchange for investigations into their conduct being dropped. The records in Brickl's case were sought by an open records requester, prompting her lawsuit to keep them sealed until she dropped the case last month.
The release of the records offers the public a rare window into how allegations of inappropriate conduct involving school staff are investigated and resolved. For parents and community members in the River Valley and Reedsburg districts, the documents raise questions about transparency and the safeguards in place to protect students.
DPI officials have not commented on the specifics of the Brickl case, but the agency's recent policy changes aim to ensure that misconduct information is more accessible to the public. The records were released after Brickl's lawsuit was dismissed.