NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — An investigation into a Metro Nashville Public Schools teacher found she taped a student to a chair multiple times as an act to discipline a first grade student.
The teacher, Donielle Rhone, has now resigned effective immediately from Mt. View Elementary School as a first grade teacher. An investigation found she taped a student to his chair and desk on multiple occasions. It also found that Rhone taped the mouths of her students, made students run laps at recess and stand or face the wall.
"Donielle Rhone was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation into allegations that she taped a student to their chair," MNPS officials said in a statement. "The school’s investigation substantiated these allegations, along with additional concerns regarding improper student and classroom management. The actions in question were inappropriate and inconsistent with the district’s policies and expectations for classroom and behavior management. Based on the findings, the employee was recommended for termination but chose to resign before the process was completed.
Per her personnel file, Rhone told the school in early spring she would leave at the end of the summer. But after the investigation, she resigned immediately.
Rhone is not eligible for rehire, and the district has reported her to the state.
How the investigation came to be
In mid-April, another first grade teacher reported to two vice principals that she saw a student taped to a chair inside Rhone's classroom, per the investigative report in Rhone's personnel file.
The teacher then went and told Rhone: "You can't do this."
"Thank you for saving me," the child said to the teacher.
The child went with another first grade teacher for the remainder of the day.
After hearing from the other first grade teacher, school administrators placed Rhone on administrative leave. The next day, Rhone denied that she taped a student to a chair.
According to the report in her personnel file, Rhone said the incident arose from the student kneeling backward in a chair in an unsafe manner. She said she warned him, but he wouldn't sit facing forward. She said she placed a single piece of Scotch tape on his clothing to serve as a tactile reminder to sit correctly. The teacher who helped the student said he was tethered to the chair with packing tape.
His mother said Rhone had taped his legs to the chair the day prior, according to the report. The student said the tape went across the tips of his legs and underneath his seat.
Members of the first grade class told school administration that Rhone would get frustrated and that she would place students in the corner, tape their mouths and force their classmates to run at recess.
Denial of allegations made from students
Rhone denied the instances that students reported to the administration, per the investigative report.
"I want to clearly and unequivocally state that I have not taped any student to a chair or desk," she wrote in her response to the allegations in the investigation. "At no time have I placed tape on any student's mouth. These practices are not consistent with my behavior management philosophy, nor have they ever been used in my classroom."
However, Rhone said she did make students stand in the corner of the classroom as a refocus strategy to self-regulate their nervous systems. She said at recess she gave students the option to run laps and did not use it as a form of discipline.
The investigation did not find Rhone's denials to be substantiated and wrote she should be terminated from the school.
In the investigation report, MNPS reported they worked with Rhone and a behavioral specialist to provide interventions in her classroom when she needed it.
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- Lelan Statom
