SHELBY – A Shelby physical education teacher has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation into an incident involving two students at Dowds Elementary School.
Teacher Bob DeLauder was notified via letter on Feb. 15 by Shelby Superintendent Tim Tarvin that he would be relieved of his duties with pay until the conclusion of an investigation by the district into an incident that occurred on Feb. 13 in DeLauder’s classroom. The letter directs DeLauder not to attend school functions or engage in school-related extracurriculars without permission.
As of Feb. 17, Richland County Children’s Services has re-opened a case with DeLauder upon receiving new evidence relating to the incident. Richland Source reviewed DeLauder’s personnel file and the teacher declined comment for this story.
Tarvin said in a prepared statement the district would not comment on personnel issues.
“The Shelby City School District takes the issue of student safety very seriously, and would not minimize in any manner any safety issue involving a student,” Tarvin said. “Furthermore, the Shelby City School District has, and will continue to, work diligently to resolve any incident in which student safety may be compromised.”
DeLauder’s paid leave stems from an incident on Monday, Feb. 13 wherein two third grade students were disciplined during gym class at Dowds Elementary School. A security camera video shows two students exiting the gymnasium, and one student ending up on the hallway floor.
That video was provided to Richland Source by the parents of the student shown sliding across the hallway floor on his backside. The father of the 9-year-old third grade student said he was “disgusted” by the video footage.
“I was like, this is what goes on in the school?” the father said. “My kid is nine, and I don’t know what he could’ve said besides cussing the teacher out to get treated like this. And I know my boy, he’s not going to cuss anyone out.
“It made me sick. I don’t think he deserved that.”
The parents of the student were first informed of the incident via Facebook messages from the concerned parents of their son’s classmates. Later, after picking their son up from basketball practice, he recounted the incident with DeLauder.
“He was upset, he didn’t really want to talk about it but he eventually opened up,” the father said. “We did a reenactment at home of how the incident happened and sent it to the parents of the kids who contacted us, and they said that’s exactly how it was done.”
According to the father, his 9-year-old son was in gym class at Dowds and complaining that a gym exercise was taking too long. It was this comment that prompted a response from his son’s gym teacher, DeLauder.
“My boy is an energetic kid, and (he and his buddies) were talking back and forth and he said this was stupid and boring, egging the line on to get through the drill,” the father said. “Basically that was the last straw (for DeLauder), so after that (my son) said he was picked up and thrown out the door. He’s 9 years old.”
The student’s parents contacted the Shelby Police Department the day after the incident, Feb. 14, ultimately filing a report of child abuse against DeLauder.
A police report from Shelby Police Capt. David Mack stated he met with the student’s parents shortly after 10 p.m. on Feb. 14 and they were upset that “their son was thrown through a door and nobody even contacted them to let them know.”
The police report also stated that as of Feb. 14, Shelby Superintendent Tim Tarvin had refused to show the family video footage from the incident. Mack noted in the report that Tarvin was acting upon legal advice from their attorney at the time, particularly because the video footage included other juveniles.
That same evening on Feb. 14, the two students’ parents along with Mack, Tarvin, and two Shelby City School Board President Lorie White and member Scott Rose met at the Board of Education office to view an angle of the video that showed only the students involved.
“I expressed to (the parents) that I understand that they were upset, but that I did not feel it was an assault,” Mack wrote.
On Feb. 15, Shelby Law Director Gordon Eyster reviewed video of the incident several times from two angles, as well as documentation provided by the school. Based on the video evidence and other documentation, Eyster determined the incident was not a criminal act and declined to press criminal charges. The incident was also reviewed by Richland County Children’s Services and closed.
At the conclusion of the Shelby Police Department’s investigation and the denial of charges by Eyster, the incident was deemed by Shelby Police a personnel matter within the school district. That same day, DeLauder was notified of his relief from duties with pay, pending the outcome of the district’s investigation.
DeLauder, a 31-year veteran of Shelby City Schools, has also served as playground supervisor at Dowds Elementary as well as coach of the district’s wrestling and track and field teams.
DeLauder’s personnel file reflects years of positive reviews from supervisors, making mention of his classes’ participation in gym class and his positive rapport with students.
“Continues to be an energetic educator, here always for our students,” wrote former Dowds Elementary Principal Wanda Dean in 2008, while recommending DeLauder for a three-year contract effective in the 2008-2009 school year.
The security camera video of DeLauder’s interaction with the two students was made available to the student’s parents after Eyster denied criminal charges for DeLauder. From there, the video was posted on the Facebook page of the 9-year-old’s older stepbrother. According to the student’s father, the video was shared more than 200 times and viewed more than 6,000 times before the stepbrother removed it.
Ultimately, the 9-year-old’s father is most disappointed in how the school district handled the incident with his son. He noted his wife has had a tumultuous relationship with Superintendent Tarvin in the past.
“This whole thing seems like, if we hadn’t pushed the envelope it would’ve been delayed for weeks or not handled until the next board meeting,” the father said. “We’re looking out for the safety of our child, he’s a 9-year-old boy and we entrust his care to these teachers, and this is how it was handled.”
The father noted five of his children have gone through Shelby City Schools, and he has two children currently in Shelby Schools – his third grade son involved in the incident, and a child in first grade. He does not wish ill will upon DeLauder, and does not wish for DeLauder to resign or lose his job.
“I just hope that was just a bad day,” the father said. “I just hope he goes to anger management classes, or he has a psych evaluation before he’s allowed to return, because I don’t want this to happen to another kid. I’m afraid of the future with him, because if this happened now and it would’ve gotten pushed under the rug as it was headed, who knows what would’ve happened?
“I’m grateful there were cameras in the school that recorded this,” he said. “Our goal is to have the school district be a little more accountable for their actions.”
