A Minnesota teacher was caught on camera throwing a hockey stick at a second-grade student after he apparently didn’t place it correctly on a pile.
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The incident took place earlier this year during a physical education class
Surveillance footage showed the moment when physical education teacher Kim Neubauer threw the hockey stick at eight-year-old Easton Johnson’s face, knocking his tooth out after he “failed” to correctly place the item in a pile at Princeton Primary School. Moments later, Johnson holds his mouth while picking up the hockey stick and placing it back on the pile.
Neubauer was placed on unpaid leave for 11 days after the incident and resigned from her position shortly after as reported by TOO FAB. Johnson’s parents say he’s very anxious about his new school due to the trauma he experienced with Neubauer.
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The school district didn’t inform parents about the incident and only sent an email about the teacher’s retirement
“He just finished second grade, he’ll be going into third grade; it’s a new building, it’s a new school. He’s been asking me, ‘Do they have gym class? What do they teach? who’s their gym teacher? What do they do?'” his mother Jodi explained. Lance, Johnson’s father, said the school district allowed the teacher to retire without any consequences and there was a lack of communication.
“The more I watch it, it’s just sad. She’s within five feet and she didn’t even hesitate. She just grabbed it and threw it with force, like she was intentionally trying to hurt him.What do you mean ‘there has to be an investigation’, the teacher should just be immediately fired, right there on the spot. If you know she did wrong, it’s gotta be a work policy. You hurt a kid, you don’t work there.”
“Physical abuse includes the use of corporal punishment when used to reform, or as a penalty for, unacceptable student conduct,” the letter stated, quoting Minnesota law. Corporal punishment is conduct involving ‘hitting or spanking a person with or without an object; or unreasonable physical force that causes bodily harm or substantial emotional harm.”
The local police department did not launch a criminal investigation based on evidence
The letter also stated that the Princeton Police Department declined to investigate the incident but didn’t release a statement.
Superintendent Ben Barton apologized for his error after learning about the incident. He originally congratulated Neubauer on her retirement in a now-deleted Facebook post when he was unaware of what happened.
“The district does not condone or tolerate any form of inappropriate conduct by staff. I share frustrations about the incident that occurred. Although the district promptly investigated and took appropriate action, I recognize that such action does not change the fact that the incident occurred.”