Iowa School Principal Delivers Birthday Spankings to Students

by Jessica Samakow
May 27th 2011


Why do you need birthday candles when you can get a spanking? Credit: Getty Images At most schools, kids and classmates enjoy cupcakes and candy on their birthdays. But, at Washington Elementary School in Linn County, Iowa, administrator Terry Eisenbarth celebrates with a slightly less conventional tradition.

Eisenbarth, the principal at Washington Elementary, is under fire for spanking kids with a padded hockey stick on their birthdays, a tradition he calls "whammies," The Des Moines Register reports.

When word of the whammies spread, parents started to complain. Parent Steve Wernimont told the newspaper that his 7-year-old, who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, "did not like it one bit." Wernimont went to the police and the school board, but only after Eisenbarth and Pamela Ewell, superintendent of the Mount Vernon Community School District, failed to respond to a concerned email.

Eisbenbarth then sent a letter to parents, attempting to justify his actions. The "pat on the backside" was meant to be a fun way to celebrate after a special announcement on the school intercom, he explains. He sings "Happy Birthday," gives the birthday student a pencil and a calculator -- and then a whammy.

The letter also promises to stop the tradition because of discomfort it has caused, the Register reports.

Members of the school board met Wednesday night to decide whether or not to take action against Eisenbarth. According to the Register, Carol Greta, an attorney at the Iowa Department of Education, said birthday spankings don't appear to violate a state ban on corporal punishment.

Bob Penn, the school board's vice president, would not disclose the board's next actions. "Our mission is always to try to make decisions that are in the best interests of the kids in the district," he tells the Register.

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Parents Upset Over Bullying Take Out Newspaper Ad

Tuesday, May 17, 2011 8:25 AM

WBNS-10TV

BALTIMORE, Ohio — A bullying controversy in a Fairfield County school district continued Monday, as parents concerned over a student who they say is terrorizing their children took more action in an effort to have him removed from the middle school.

Several parents in the Liberty Union-Thurston School district said that administrators are not taking their concerns seriously enough, 10TV's Tanisha Mallett reported.

The bullying issues in Baltimore gained attention last month when a parent upset over the district's handling of the situation confronted Superintendent Paul Mathews in his office. The father was charged with disorderly conduct after the incident.

On Monday afternoon, Mathews said the school board would address the issues during a closed meeting prior to the next regular school board meeting, but Bob Denny, who has a child in the district, said that is not soon enough.

"I said it to you before, the kid is a threat and we are not backing off of that," Denny said.

Denny and another parent have paid to put an ad concerning the matter in a local newspaper. They have also created an e-mail address and urged parents whose children have had run-ins with the student to share their stories, Mallett reported.

"He is a threat to my family so I need some answers," Denny said, "and we are going to pursue it until we get some answers."

Baltimore police confirmed that the student, who 10TV is not identifying because he is a minor, was arrested Friday for a probation violation. Police records show he was on probation for an incident that occurred outside of school, Mallett reported.

The boy's father said his lawyer advised him not to speak about the case, but he did say that the students who say they are victims were not blameless in the situation.

Watch 10TV News and refresh 10TV.com for additional information.