Fake teacher allegedly tells cops she ‘hates kids’ after bizarre classroom stunt ends in 6 felonies

BS BULLETIN:

Prosecutors say 23-year-old Amy Jones impersonated a substitute teacher at her former Milwaukee high school and made it through nearly three class periods.
Students reported racial slurs, profanity, sexual comments and insults about their weight and appearance.
The alleged explanation Jones later gave police may be the strangest part: She was “bored,” “hates kids” and “just wanted to f— around.”

Here’s one for the file marked: How on Earth Did This Happen?

A 23-year-old Milwaukee woman is facing six felony charges after authorities say she simply walked into her former high school, presented herself as a substitute teacher — and was handed a classroom.

Amy Jones allegedly pulled off the bizarre stunt Sept. 24 at Rufus King International High School.

And what prosecutors say happened after she got inside makes the security breach look even more astonishing. Students told investigators Jones was “using profane language, racial slurs, sexually derogative statements and organizing students by race and gender in class.”

One 16-year-old gave police this account: “The teacher was cursing and screaming at the students and that she called a student ‘fat boy,’ asked a student if she wanted to be a stripper or a hooker.”

Students also alleged that Jones asked whether they were gay or virgins, separated them according to race and gender, and told two White boys that they looked like the type of people who would start school shootings.

At least one student recorded some of the alleged behavior.

This wasn’t a five-minute prank in the hallway. Authorities say Jones signed in at the front desk as a substitute and was assigned to classrooms because the school happened to be short a teacher that day.

Eight teachers were absent. Only seven substitute positions had been filled. Principal Doreen Badillo told investigators Jones “got lucky because there happened to be an unfilled position.”

That’s some luck.

According to other reporting on the criminal complaint, Jones had allegedly visited the school about a week earlier and learned that an outside agency supplied its substitute teachers. Jones was also a former Rufus King student. On Sept. 24, authorities say, she returned and claimed to be one of the substitutes.

And into the classroom she went. Students quickly began complaining. One told investigators that Jones’ behavior was “making the whole class uncomfortable.” According to the complaint, she allegedly bragged about “having felonies and being okay with going to jail.”

School officials eventually contacted the substitute agency, discovered Jones didn’t work for it and had her escorted from the building.

Then investigators asked Jones why she had allegedly done any of this. According to the criminal complaint, Jones said she went to the school “because she was bored.” She also allegedly told investigators she “hates kids and she just wanted to f— around.”

There’s your motive.

Jones acknowledged discussing sex with the students, describing it to detectives as a “birds and the bees” conversation. Asked whether that was appropriate, Jones reportedly answered: “It was not appropriate.”

No argument there.

Jones appeared in court Tuesday charged with one felony count of impersonating a public employee and five felony counts of exposing a child to harmful descriptions. If convicted on all counts, she could face a combined maximum of 21 years behind bars.

Her attorney offered a substantially different context for her behavior. “Miss Jones manages bipolar disorder and was experiencing an acute manic episode caused by delayed home prescription delivery. So, she was off her meds during the time,” the defense attorney told the court.

The defense is seeking treatment for Jones.

A court commissioner allowed her release on a $5,000 signature bond with supervision and ordered her to stay away from Rufus King High School and several students named in the complaint. Her preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct. 20.

Meanwhile, Milwaukee Public Schools says it is conducting its own investigation into the rather obvious question hanging over this entire episode: How did someone who wasn’t a teacher wind up teaching classes in the first place?

Here’s the principal’s story:

Dear Rufus King International High School Staff and Families,

We value you as partners and want to continue to keep you informed about a situation we first told you about in late September (previous messages are below).

As we have shared, this matter is still under investigation.

Our initial findings indicate that the former student did go through the school’s daily safety scan, but those same initial findings suggest the office did not follow proper district protocol in validating the individual as a substitute teacher. Across the district, substitute teachers are part of a system called Frontline and substitutes are tied to actual teacher absences, and assigned to those classrooms. Office staff validate that an individual coming for a substitute role is both within the system and assigned to the school based on a specific teacher’s absence. Offices must check that the person is in Frontline and assigned before permitting them.

This should happen every time a substitute visits a school. There is no excuse for it not occurring, and we take this matter seriously.

We are already in the process of reviewing our safeguards to ensure an incident like this never happens again. Our employees will be retrained and held accountable moving forward. And we are providing supportive measures for students in the affected classes.

We understand how disturbing this is and we are taking every step to address where errors happened.

Thank you for your continued support as we work to ensure our school community remains a safe and welcoming place.

Sincerely,
Doreen Badillo
Principal

MY QUICK TAKE:

Wait.

She allegedly walked into a high school. Said, essentially, “Hi, I’m the substitute.” And somebody apparently said, “Terrific. We’ve been waiting for you. Here’s your classroom.”

THAT may be the story. According to the principal, eight teachers were out, seven substitutes showed up and Jones happened to arrive when there was one vacancy. What are the odds?

Then students had to start sounding the alarm while their alleged substitute was cursing, making racial and sexual comments and asking whether kids were gay or virgins.

Whatever ultimately happens in Jones’ criminal case — and her attorney has now raised a mental-health explanation for her alleged conduct — the school has a separate question to answer.

Where was the verification?

Because “Please educate these children” seems like one of those jobs where checking whether the person actually works there might be a useful first step.

Just a thought.