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Teacher in dragging incident: I would not harm a child
YOUNGSTOWN
After her termination Tuesday for allegedly dragging a 4-year-old preschooler, Jenn Lohr and her lawyer question why her former employer, Alta Head Start, did not conduct an investigation.
Lohr, employed by Alta for two years, was fired by Alta after she reportedly dragged the preschool student down the hallway Monday at Programs of Promise at Wilson, in the former Wilson school building on Gibson Street. The episode was captured in a photo by a Youngstown City School District employee.
Lohr said she’s devastated by the outcome.
“I’ve worked very hard to become a teacher, and I would never hurt any child,” she said. “I have always been an advocate for children, and I’m being destroyed in the public for a snapshot.”
The city schools’ preschool program started collaborating with Alta Head Start in December to offer all-day preschool five days a week in the district’s six elementary schools. School district spokeswoman Denise Dick said the 69 students there have “behavioral or emotional issues who have difficulty in traditional classrooms or schools.” It houses students from preschool through 12th grade.
Lohr said her termination as co-teacher was immediate and done without investigation by Alta or the city district.
“It is truly a disservice to my client by her own employer not investigating the incident,” said Lohr’s attorney, Albert Palombaro of Youngstown.
Joe Shorokey, Alta Behavioral Health chief executive officer, said he would not comment on the lack of an investigation. “We made what we thought was the best decision for our organization,” he said.
Dick said the city district didn’t terminate Lohr. It simply asked her not to return to the school.
Mahoning County Children Services is investigating, Dick said.
Lohr described the environment at Wilson as “volatile.”
“We had unofficial lockdowns three to four times daily,” she said. “Often police officers working in the school needed to call in outside help. It was challenging.”
Lohr said the student in the photo had a history of “unfortunate emotional issues and anger issues” since he started preschool at Wilson.
“We had been continuously working with him and his family throughout the school year,” Lohr said.
To help with the student’s aggression problems, Lohr said they figured out the student could sometimes be calmed by singing his favorite song, tearing paper, yelling on the playground or having stuffed animals nearby.
Lohr said the student in question already had started Monday angry.
“He didn’t want to come inside [the school], so he just sat on the ground outside,” she said.
Shortly after she got him to come inside, the boy began acting out and was removed from the classroom by another worker, she said.
He was returned to the classroom for nap time, and due to rules set by the state, he was to remain on a cot for the duration of the nap.
But Lohr said the student acted up past the point in which she could ignore it when he took off, running out of the classroom and down the hall.
“I took off running after him,” she said. “I figured it was better to let him run and get out that energy while I keep him in sight.”
Lohr said several teachers, principals and police officers witnessed the student running. No police report was filed.
“I was calling out to him: ‘Stop, stop, let’s talk about this and let’s figure out what’s going on,’” she said.
The student rounded a corner and ran into an assistant principal who put an end to the chase by picking up the student, Lohr said.
The assistant principal handed the boy to Lohr, she noted.
As she began walking him back to class, the student began hitting her chest, so she put him down – which is when he lay on the floor, in another fit, she continued.
She then grabbed his wrist and began to talk to him. “He wouldn’t get up and wouldn’t stop screaming, so I just kept talking to him and telling him he needed to get up and walk with me back to class,” she said.
Lohr said she did not drag the student.
While Lohr talked to the child, another principal grabbed his other wrist, taking him into the cafeteria to calm down, Lohr said.
Lohr finished the day normally, putting the student on the bus to leave and leaving work herself around 3:30 p.m.
“I didn’t hear anything until 5 [p.m.],” she said. That was when she was contacted by Alta Head Start director Judith Miller and told she was not to return to Wilson until further notice. On Thursday, she received a written notice of termination from Alta, effective Tuesday.
Beyond the issues with student behaviors, Lohr said she wishes there would have been clearer guidelines and a better chain of command.
“There were no guidelines or policies regarding preschool behavior and discipline,” she said. “Alta has their standards and Youngstown city has their standards. But throughout the course of the year, Alta would say to ‘ask Youngstown city,’ and Youngstown would say to ‘ask Alta.’”
Lohr said the Alta staff trying to handle disruptive behaviors has no support from district or Alta superiors.
Shorokey said he would not comment further.
Dick said unrelated to the incident this week, the district will not collaborate with Alta after this year.
Alta is licensed by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, whereas district employees are certified by the Ohio Department of Education.
“We just feel we can provide better service to the children,” Dick said.