Jason Rogers (Underwood School Directory)
Underwood, MN – A sixth grade teacher in Underwood is charged with malicious punishment of a student.
According to court documents, 47-year-old Jason Rogers has been accused of stepping on a students back during a school lockdown drill to prove a point. On February 10th, Deputies responded to Lake Region Healthcare, where the incident was reported. The student told deputies that they had been participating in the lockdown drill and was lying on their stomach when Rogers “stepped on them like a stepping stool.” They said Rogers stood there in front of the class for around 10 seconds until the student cried as their back hurt.
Deputies say that they spoke with Rogers, and he explained that he had the students line up along the wall for the drill and sit down. He said two students decided to lay on their stomachs, and he told them that he could step on them in their current position.
Rogers said he didn’t feel the class was taking the drill seriously, so he put his foot on the students back and stepped on it. He heard the student groan and begin to cry and stepped off of them. Rogers told deputies that he hoped the student wasn’t hurt.
Prosecutors say that Rogers is around 350 pounds, and the student is considered a “healthy sixth grade student.” Rogers also told deputies that he had stepped on two other students.
Rogers is set to make his first court appearance on April 8th.
