Teacher’s clothespin justice not well received

updated 3:01 p.m. ET April 5, 2007

AMANDA, Ohio - A substitute teacher’s tool for silencing chatty kindergartners — clothespins — doesn’t wash with school officials.

Four boys said spring-type clothespins were placed over their upper or lower lips for talking too much in class, Amanda-Clearcreek Primary School principal Mike Johnsen wrote in a letter to parents this week.

Ruth Ann Stoneburner, a retired school nurse who had worked as a substitute for several years, confirmed to Johnsen that she had used the clothespin discipline March 26, he said.

Stoneburner will not work again in the Amanda-Clearcreek district and was being reported to the state education department, Superintendent J.B. Dick said Wednesday.

Officials found out about the discipline after a parent complained. The students weren’t hurt, but the punishment isn’t condoned by the district, Dick said.

Stoneburner could not be reached for comment at phone listings under her last name in Amanda, which is about 25 miles southeast of Columbus.

State education department spokesman J.C. Benton said that while he could not comment on this specific case, the department can suspend or revoke the licenses of teachers that it finds have engaged in unbecoming behavior.

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