What does it take to get rid of a bad teacher?
Sometimes, a lot.
After a number of complaints spanning two school districts and several years, 56 year-old Lynn Luisier has agreed to give up her teaching license and enroll in an anger management course.
In Kenosha Court earlier this year, the former kindergarten teacher was originally charged with child abuse stemming from an incident at Pleasant Prairie Elementary School last March that was caught on security camera video. Previous alleged incidents involving Luisier at the school--and at another one of Luisier's teaching posts, this one in Hartland--apparently weren't.
In Kenosha Court Monday, Luisier pleaded no contest to a lesser felony. Sentencing was withheld for two years, meaning that if Luisier follows through on the conditions of the plea bargain then the eventual charge at sentencing will drop even further to a misdemeanor. If all goes as planned, the state will recommend nothing more severe than a fine.
After the short proceeding, Luisier and her attorney quickly left the courtroom without making eye contact with a half-dozen parents who were in the gallery, or with members of Guardians of the Children, a local motorcycle club that has dedicated itself to monitoring and offering assistance in child abuse cases.
Speaking to reporters afterward, parent Jennifer Mengo vented her frustrations that Luisier was allowed to continue teaching even though she and others at Pleasant Prairie had complained back in 2014.
The first sign of trouble for Mengo came when her son--a 4 year-old at the time--complained that "Mrs. L" had slapped him and grabbed his arm. "I just thought it was so crazy that I chose not to believe it," Mengo said. Another incident occurred, then a third--just seconds before Mengo walked into the classroom for a scheduled volunteer assignment. "He was visibility upset," she said, adding that the child was reluctant to talk about what had happened in Luisier's presence.
The incriminating video from last March has Luisier roughing up a five year-old girl in a hallway.
Mengo says she blames the school principal for being less than fully responsive to her 2014 concerns and those of other parents.
Mengo took her son, Franco, now 7, to court Monday to witness the plea hearing. Mengo and her family have since moved out of the district.
Mengo's advice to other parents is to never automatically dismiss a child's story, no matter how incredible it may seem.
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