Mom says transgender teacher killed herself after 10 years of bullying

A friend of a transgender teacher in Wisconsin who killed herself in November 2014 after what her mother said was 10 years of bullying has written an open letter calling attention to the suicide, which she says was covered up more than it was shared.

Karis Anne Ross, 37, left a suicide note in November saying that she had been bullied during her time at German Immersion School in Milwaukee, CBS 58 reported.

“There were people named,” her mother, Jill Greinke said. “Before her transition she was being bullied. After her transition she was being bullied.”

Madeline Dietrich, Ross’ friend, posted the open letter to MPS superintendent Dr. Darienne Driver last week.

“Ms. Ross was the schools’ lead Special Education teacher, a stressful job by any account,” Dietrich wrote. “But made unnecessarily more stressful by a hostile work environment fraught with tension, disrespect and bullying, not from her students, but from the teacher’s aides assigned to assist her.”

Friends and family gathered to remember Ross last Sunday.

When asked about claims that Ross’ bullying was ignored by administration, a spokesperson with the school told CBS 58 she was a “longtime member” who continues to be missed.

Contact Kristen DeSilva at 702-477-3895 or kdesilva@reviewjournal.com. Find her on Twitter: @kristendesilva