Two unpaid days off for Warren teacher whose knives were stolen from car

December 4, 2018 at 2:05p.m.

WARREN

A Warren City Schools teacher whose gun, ammunition, machete and two knives were stolen from his Jeep in the Warren G. Harding High School parking lot Oct. 30 has served a two-day unpaid suspension for an infraction of school rules regarding weapons on school property.

The infractions were for the teacher having knives in his vehicle, not the gun, according to a disciplinary letter.

Kirk Zellers of Bristolville, a special education teacher in the district since 1997, learned his punishment Thursday after a Wednesday fact-finding hearing.

His suspension was supposed to be served Thursday and Friday, and he was allowed to return to work Monday, according to a Nov. 29 letter to Zellers obtained by The Vindicator.

The letter says Zellers, 58, or his representatives told school officials Zellers had the machete in his vehicle to clear brush at a property he recently acquired near Geneva-On-The-Lake. Zellers provided documentation showing that the purchase took place four days before the items were stolen from his Jeep.

One knife was on a boat he recently sold. He removed it from the boat and was carrying it in a backpack in his vehicle, the letter says.

The second knife was locked in the center console of the vehicle and could be used to break a car window or cut a seat belt in the event that his vehicle was submerged in water, such as in a lake, the letter says. The gun was also in the console.