Teacher Caught on Video Throwing a Hockey Stick at Child’s Face

(KNSI) — A teacher at Princeton Primary School was captured on surveillance video throwing a hockey stick at a student’s face.

On March 28th, students picked up hockey sticks at the end of gym class at Princeton Primary. Eight-year-old Easton Johnson is seen gently tossing his stick on the pile in the video. The teacher, Kim Neubauer, picks up the stick and hurls it directly at Easton’s face. Easton immediately put his hands over his face, and Neubauer seemingly scolded him as he picked up his stick again to try and return it to the pile before he turned around to run out of the gym.

Easton’s lip was split open, and the impact knocked out a tooth.

His mother, Jodi Johnson, posted about it on Facebook, complete with a picture of her son’s mouth showing the missing tooth.

Johnson is a substitute teacher in the district, says she isn’t allowed to sub at the school anymore; meanwhile, Neubauer, who was placed on leave after the incident, was allowed to retire and was hailed on the district’s Facebook page, thanking her for her years of service in a now-deleted post congratulating her on her retirement, saying “you will be missed!”

The Minnesota Department of Education sent the Johnson family a letter admitting Easton was subject to maltreatment. The Princeton Police Department is declining to investigate or press charges.

A statement on the Princeton Public School District 477 says:

“Student safety is the top priority of the Princeton Public School District. When the District receives a complaint related to student safety, we investigate immediately and take appropriate action to address any substantiated concerns. In those rare situations in which a staff member’s conduct creates or contributes to a dangerous situation, the District may take action to end the employment relationship. In addition, the district would file a report with the Minnesota Department of Education and report to law enforcement.

“The District has received questions about its response to a particular incident. Although data privacy laws prohibit the District from sharing details about the incident, we can state that allegations were made against teacher Kim Neubauer. The District placed Ms. Neubauer on administrative leave while it investigated the allegations. After completing its investigation, the District acted quickly and decisively. As of April 8th, 2022, Ms. Neubauer was placed on an unpaid leave of absence for the remainder of the school year. Additionally, Ms. Neubauer’s employment with the District ended on June 3rd, 2022. As a result, Ms. Neubauer is no longer an employee of the District.

“We love our students and we work tirelessly to protect and support them. We welcome and value parent feedback and recognize that together we are stronger and better equipped to respond to any safety concerns that may arise.”

Here is a video of the Incident! No excuse! I can’t believe we were not made aware as parents! Savannah said there was…

Posted by Cassie Waalk on Sunday, June 5, 2022

___