Report: Port Huron teacher dropped, kicked student

A Port Huron early childhood special education teacher allegedly dropped, then kicked a child in the head and neck area twice in late October, leading to her removal from the classroom and eventual criminal charges, according to police reports.

Shirley Thoen, 59, was charged with and pleaded guilty to two counts of assault and battery Dec. 3. She also retired from her position at Thomas Edison Elementary that day — after 36 years with the district.

The charges are 93-day misdemeanors.

Tracie Eschenburg, executive director of employee and student services for Port Huron Schools, acknowledged Thoen’s charges Tuesday, but she said she couldn’t comment on the details of those charges as she hadn’t read the police report.

On Friday, the Times Herald obtained a copy of two police reports related to Thoen through a Freedom of Information Act request.

The reports detail concerns from paraprofessionals, bus drivers and assistants — some referring to Thoen’s behavior as “no nonsense” and “old school” and others reporting more aggressive behavior that culminated with her allegedly dropping and kicking a child Oct. 29.

The St. Clair County Sheriff Department was contacted Sept. 25 by the school district, asking for an investigation into “suspected child abuse” in Thoen’s classroom. The call came a little more than a year after a previous investigation concluded there wasn’t enough information to file a criminal complaint against Thoen.

A St. Clair County Sheriff detective interviewed two paraprofessionals Sept. 25 who reported what they felt was inappropriate physical and verbal interactions between Thoen and her students — pre-kindergarten special education students.

According to the police report, the paraprofessionals reported their concerns to the school district after the first week of school this year. They were told to note incidents in journals.

The report states Thoen was working with seven to eight children between 4 and 6 years of age in each morning and afternoon session.

In interviews with the sheriff department, the paraprofessionals reported seeing Thoen move or restrain students with her feet, pull a student out of the bathroom while his pants and underwear were still down, splash water in the face of a student as punishment, and step on students’ fingers when they were uncooperative.

The paraprofessionals also reported that a couple of students had unexplained welts on their arms or heads.

In several instances, the students involved in the incidents were nonverbal.

The report says one of the paraprofessionals noted that her autistic son was nonverbal and was a past student of Thoen’s.

“(She) got very emotional, and stated that she was now concerned how her own son may have been treated by Mrs. Thoen when he was a student,” the report reads.

The sheriff department used a search warrant to install cameras in Thoen’s classroom Oct. 4, and established remote access Oct. 5.

According to the report, the video surveillance caught several instances of Thoen’s physical contact with students:

■ On Oct. 6, Thoen was observed stepping on a student’s hand.

■ On Oct. 13, Thoen was observed pushing a student onto a rug, then ordering him to a time out. When he resisted, she appeared to step on the student’s knee. The report noted the student screamed.

■ On Oct. 14, Thoen was observed stepping on a student’s leg or foot during the “wake up feet” song.

■ On Oct. 16, Thoen was observed stepping on a student’s hand in the toy area.

■ On Oct. 21, Thoen was observed stepping on a student’s fingers. She later kneed the student in the head.

■ On Oct. 29, “…Thoen leads (name redacted) into the classroom, holding both hands, drops him, then kicks him in the head/neck area twice,” the report states.

When the detective asked Thoen about the Oct. 29 incident, Thoen denied kicking the child.

“She added that ‘at no time did her foot leave the ground and kick a kid,’” the report reads. “She explained that she found it difficult to believe that the sub-paraprofessional saw exactly what happened from the angle she was at.”

Thoen was put on administrative leave Oct. 30, and remained on administrative leave until she pleaded guilty Dec. 3.

According to the report, the detective also spoke with district bus drivers about their observations of Thoen. Some of the drivers referred to Thoen as a “no nonsense,” “old school” teacher. One driver referred to her as “Sister Meanie.”

When a student wouldn’t get off the ground outside the bus, Thoen “grabbed the back neck area and ‘dragged’ him through the school yard,” bus drivers told the detective.

When contacted by the Times Herald Friday, Thoen referred all questions to her lawyer.

Calls to Matt Lozen, who is listed as Thoen's lawyer in court records, were not immediately returned.

Concerns led to 2014 investigation

Thoen’s personnel record doesn’t indicate any past concerns or complaints. It contains hundreds of pages of positive reviews, training certificates and employment offers.

The personnel file — obtained by the Times Herald through a Freedom of Information Act request — states Thoen was evaluated as effective and recommended for continued tenured employment in May 2014 and 2015.

But this year's sheriff department investigation wasn’t the first for the tenured teacher.

The sheriff department opened a child abuse investigation into Thoen Sept. 15, 2014, at Eschenburg’s request, according to the police report released to the Times Herald through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Eschenburg told the detective an internal investigation had started after teacher aides alleged “over a period of possibly several years they have observed this teacher being highly aggressive with the children, inappropriately using a correction chair. One allegation was that the teacher grabbed a student aggressively by the arm escorting the child to the chair. Another allegation was that the teacher was observed to scream in a child’s ear.”

The report notes the school district was looking to handle the complaints internally until directed by lawyer Gary Fletcher to contact law enforcement.

Thoen was teaching special education children between 3 and 5 years old at Indian Woods Elementary School.

The detective interviewed five paraprofessionals who worked or had worked with Thoen. Two believed Thoen’s actions were criminal, one was neutral and two others did not think it should be prosecuted.

One witness stated she had addressed the issue of Thoen’s behavior with a former superintendent.

“She stated she did not go into specific details with the superintendent, but did attempt to give a heads-up to the superintendent that Miss Thoen was a problem and he should look into it,” the report reads. “Robin (O’Neil) feels Miss Thoen went too far with the discipline and it was inappropriate for Miss Thoen to hit or be screaming at the children in the manner she did.”

The detective states in the report the complaint was taken to the prosecutor’s office with a request to place a hidden camera in the classroom to observe any unusual behavior.

“Detective was advised that based on the school district’s policy and what was being requested that would not be appropriate during the investigation,” the report states.

The detective also interviewed Thoen. In the report Thoen explains that because the students have developmental issues, communicating with them is different than with other children.

“Not enough information to proceed with criminal complaint,” the report ends.

District explains actions, process

Scott Shine, executive director for The ARC of St. Clair County, said he was contacted by a parent about the incident Tuesday.

The ARC works with people of all ages with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The agency’s child and family advocates work with parents to ensure their children are receiving the free and fair education to which they are entitled.

Shine said he was concerned by the lapse of time between Thoen’s removal from the classroom and parent notification.

“There’s absolutely no excuse why a parent shouldn’t be informed of what’s going on in school when it’s something of this magnitude,” Shine said.

Eschenburg said Thoen was removed from the classroom as soon as the district was informed Oct. 30 the surveillance video showed criminal acts.

Eschenburg said parents met with law enforcement, the prosecutor and school administrators Tuesday evening. She said the letter inviting parents to the meeting was sent home with students Monday.

She said parents were not notified until Tuesday so as not to jeopardize the investigation.

“The investigation was ongoing until charges were filed, which is why parents were not informed until later,” Eschenburg said in an email. “Parents of potential victims were contacted by the detective earlier as part of the investigation.”

Eschenburg said part of the Port Huron Schools teacher contract states cameras cannot be placed in a classroom without express consent of the teacher — a stipulation listed in police reports as stopping the use of a surveillance camera in 2014.

“It was the determination of the sheriff's department in 2014 that there was not enough evidence to support probable cause and request a search warrant for cameras in the room,” Eschenburg said.

Eschenburg said administrators continue to review the situation, but she believes everyone involved acted swiftly.

“I do not believe there is anything we would have done differently,” Eschenburg said.

Contact Beth LeBlanc at 810-989-6259, eleblanc@gannett.com, or on Twitter @THBethLeBlanc. Contact Liz Shepard at (810) 989-6273 or lshepard@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @lvshepard