Kansas Board of Education censures teacher, parent in alleged corporal punishment case

TOPEKA — The Kansas State Board of Education rejected conclusions of child abuse investigators, a professional practice commission and attorneys with the Department of Education to protect the teaching license of a mother accused of physically abusing her son.

The incident prompting regulatory intervention occurred in December 2022 at the Child Development Center on McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita. The center’s staff called the mother, who held a Kansas teaching license since 2020, to the school because her preschool-age son was throwing objects at a teacher. Educators testified the mother — unidentified because of redaction of state documents chronicling the case — watched video of the child’s conduct before declaring, “You’re going to learn how to act in the car.”

The boy, witnesses said, started to cry and repeatedly screamed that he didn’t want to go to the vehicle. The mother took him to and from the car three times that day, but during the second trip, Child Development Center teachers said, they observed the mother retrieve something that looked like a belt. School personnel said they saw the mother raising and lowering her arm inside the vehicle as if she was smacking the child. An assistant director of the Child Development Center said she saw the boy return to school rubbing his buttocks and thigh.

School staff called 911 and cooperated with a McConnell AFB criminal investigation in which military documents indicated the boy disclosed his father used a belt and his mother used sticks on him.

The Kansas Department for Children and Families opened an inquiry. The mother, public records say, denied physically disciplining the boy, but she maintained she had the right to punish the child within reason. DCF temporarily removed all children from the household. The mother’s name was added to the state’s child abuse registry, but after three years her name was expunged from the roster in May.

DCF documents say “the child’s body was hit with a belt as a form of discipline and injuries were inflicted as a result.” Based on the agency’s substantiation of abuse, the state Professional Practices Commission conducted an evidentiary hearing in April. Christy Ziegler, of the commission, said the majority of the commission agreed evidence showed the minor was abused. The commission voted 6-1 to recommend the State Board of Education revoke the mother’s license to teach in Kansas.

The mother responded with a letter to the State Board of Education last month arguing revocation would be inappropriate because of lack of proof. She said Child Development Center personnel were mistaken when they assumed she was hitting the boy with a belt rather than “talking with my son while moving my hands.” She wrote in the letter that her son was examined the day of the incident, Dec. 27, 2022, by McConnell medical personnel who reported finding “no markings, abrasions or bruising” on his body.

In addition, the mother said, she subsequently completed anger management and parent counseling courses and had “learned from my rehabilitation.”

On Tuesday, the State Board of Education voted 7-3 to reduce the proposed license revocation to a written censure. That censure document would be attached to the mother’s licensing file. The State Board of Education had the option of revocation, censure and suspension or to dismiss the case entirely.

Censure was supported by board members Beryl Ann New of Topeka, Connie O’Brien of Tonganoxie, Michelle Dombrosky of Olathe, Dennis Hershberger of Hutchinson, Debby Potter of Garden Plain, Betty Arnold of Wichita and Jim Porter of Fredonia. Voting against the censure motion were Cathy Hopkins of Hays, Melanie Haas of Overland Park and Danny Zeck of Leavenworth.

Potter, who objected to the child-abuse determination made by DCF, said there was no law forbidding a parent from engaging in corporal punishment.

“That’s not illegal if she did spank with a belt,” Potter said. “That’s not an illegal thing.”

Under common law in Kansas, a parent or guardian could use a degree of physical force to discipline a child. State statute draws a line at inflicting cruel and inhuman corporal punishment for people younger than 18.

Hopkins, who serves as chair of the State Board of Education, said the mother at the center of the case chose not to formally appeal the Professional Practices Commission’s decision. Instead, the mother simply asked the State Board of Education to reject the complaint seeking revocation of the teaching license.

“This person did not appeal the decision of the PPC. That is a factor we all need to take into account,” Hopkins said.

Meanwhile, Potter accused Hopkins and the State Board of Education’s general counsel of failing to deliver to her correspondence related to the case of alleged child abuse.

“Our mail is going through the chair and general counsel gatekeeping,” Potter said. “I am very, very frustrated by this.”

Hopkins answered the claim from Potter by pointing to procedures and regulations guiding the State Board of Education. At that point, Hopkins’ microphone went dead. The livestream of the meeting suggested Hopkins continued to speak for 50 seconds, but her thoughts were lost on the viewing public.