Former teacher charged with slapping student

By Dawn Marks

Published: June 2, 2007

A teacher is facing an assault and battery charge after being accused of slapping a special education student on the face at school.

The Oklahoma County district attorney's office filed the misdemeanor charges Thursday against Jessica Renaker, 24, of Guthrie.

Charges stem from an April 6 incident at Deer Creek Elementary School when a cafeteria worker said she saw Renaker, who was a special education teacher at the time, slap a 9-year-old student when the child was throwing a tantrum, according to an Oklahoma County Sheriff's Department affidavit.

Lenis DeRieux-Winkle, director of personnel and communications for the district, said Friday that Renaker is no longer employed by the school.

District officials hired Renaker at the end of the fall semester to fill in during the school year, DeRieux-Winkle said, and there are no other district investigations regarding the teacher.

Renaker wrote in a statement to investigators that the student threatened her with a plastic knife, the affidavit states, but the witness in the cafeteria told investigators she saw no knife.

Renaker has not been arrested or appeared in court. She could not be reached for comment Friday.

Malinda Muskrat, mother of the student, said Friday that she did not remove her son from the school at the time of the alleged incident because it was too difficult to find another school for him. She did, however, ask that the teacher not be left alone with her son.

"I was hoping the school administration would do the right thing,” Muskrat said.

A statement from the school district states that the school principal investigated the situation and appropriate actions were taken. The statement goes on to say the situation was resolved to the parent's satisfaction and that district officials will cooperate with law enforcement.

According to the sheriff's department affidavit, the parents contacted the department saying they weren't satisfied with the school's investigation and told deputies they thought there were other instances of abuse.

"(The) defendant ...did not act reasonably in manner and moderate in degree and used unnecessary force in controlling the behavior,” the affidavit states.