Photo: WNDU/Twitter
A former ‘Teacher of the Year’ in Indiana has been arrested after he was caught slapping a student during the school day.
On Tuesday, the Baugo Community School Board announced that Hosinski, who worked in the district for 40 years, would be allowed to retire early, according to theSouth Bend Tribune.
In 2020, Hosinski wasnamed Teacher of the Yearat Jimtown High School.
The Feb. 25 incident allegedly began after Hosinski confronted the victim about the hoodie sweatshirt they had worn to class before he “inexplicably” made physical contact with them, the district said.
(WARNING:the content of this video is graphic.)
That’s when Hosinski appears to retreat back toward the room he exited at the start of the clip.
“The safety of students attending Baugo Community Schools is our highest priority and greatest responsibility,” Baugo Community Schools said in their Feb. 25 statement.
“When anyone, including a teacher, undermines that priority and responsibility, swift action must and will be taken to safeguard Jimtown students,” the district continued, adding that, “anything less cannot be tolerated.”
Baugo Community Schools said school administrators “promptly contacted” both the Indiana Department of Child Services and the Elkhart County Sheriff’s Office about the incident. The Indiana Department of Education’s teacher licensing officials were informed of the incident as well.
“All Jimmies must be able to learn in a safe environment,” the district concluded.
Many members of the community have shown their support for Hosinski in wake of the incident. Students organized a walkout Monday morning, anda Change.org petitionasking to save Hosinski’s tenure and retirement garnered 1,345 supporters prior to Tuesday’s school board meeting.
Before the meeting began, a man who identified himself as the victim’s father confronted board members about Hosinski’s actions, according to theTribuneandGood Morning America.
Those supporting Hosinski do not believe the recent incident is indicative of his character. One man who described himself as Hosinski’s friend believes that something had to have led Hosinski to “snap” as he did, according toGMA.
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One student at Tuesday’s meeting told the board that she had “never been more embarrassed” to be a student at the school after seeing how the administration handled the situation. “The administration has not only failed the students, but our teachers as well,” she said.
Another Hosinski supporter said those “that actually had Mr. Hosinski thought the world of him,” perGMA.
This is not the first time Hosinski has been criticized for his conduct as an educator. In 2019,the Northern Indiana Atheistsrepresented three families that took issue with Hosinski for allegedly “violating students' rights with religious propaganda,” such as a10 Commandmentsmovie replica, anti-liberal posters, pro-Republican Party posters, anti-choice posters, and more.
The group revealed that it planned to file a complaint against Hosinski after a parent told the group in an online submission that the teacher had told students in his class that “Hillary [Clinton]and[Barack] Obamaare criminals, PresidentDonald Trumpis great, and Democrats are liars.”
Hosinski also allegedly made remarks about the legality of abortion and how “poor people don’t have jobs but spend money on alcohol and drugs,” among other topics.
“It was obvious from speaking to his past students that he had been getting away with violating student’s rights for years,” the group said in aFacebook poston Monday.
Tanner Clark, a Jimtown High School alumnus, told theTribunethat the video of his former teacher did not alter his opinion of the man. Clark called Hosinski “a great mentor,” “a good person,” and “a very Christian man.”
“That is the video of a man who lost his cool and made a mistake,” Clark told the newspaper. “But mistakes can be rectified over time.”
source: people.com
