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Female gym teacher accused of sex acts with football players
By Ed Richter, Staff Writer
Updated 5:25 PM Friday, February 4, 2011
MASON — A female Mason high school gym teacher is accused of having sexual misconduct with five students, most of them football players at the school.
A Warren County grand jury on Friday indicted
Stacy Schuler of Springboro on 16 counts of sexual battery, a third-degree felony; and three misdemeanor counts of offenses involving an underaged person.
Schuler, who will turn 33 next week, allegedly had sexual contact with the students on five different occasions between August and December, according to officials with the Warren County Prosecutor’s Office.
She also allegedly bought alcohol for the students, according to the indictment.
Prosecutors said the alleged sex acts, mostly with football players at Mason High School, occurred off school grounds.
Schuler, who is single according to prosecutors, turned herself into authorities Friday and was arraigned in Warren County Common Pleas Court. Her bond was set at $50,000 and was ordered to stay away from the students. She was in the Warren County Jail at 5 p.m.
Schuler faces up to 81 years in jail if convicted on all charges.
Authorities also said
George Coates, a Mason High School assistant principal who resigned last week, had allegedly sent Schuler text messages involving sexual images.
Schuler apparently told school authorities about the alleged messages before she was asked to leave.
Police said Coates is not under investigation and his alleged acts did not involve Mason students.
Coates submitted a letter of resignation Jan. 28, citing personal reasons. Mason’s school board is expected to vote on the matter at next Tuesday’s meeting.
He was hired as an assistant principal in December 2001 and his annual salary at the time of his resignation was $88,000.
Schuler, a health and physical education teacher at the 3,048 student-populated Mason High School, has been under investigation by police after an anonymous tip was called to school officials during the week of Jan. 10, according to Tracey Carson, schools spokeswoman.
Carson said Schuler was placed on paid administrative leave on Jan. 19 while school officials and police investigated the matter. During that time, Schuler was prohibited from attending district events or being on district property.
“As high school principal, I am committed to the safety and well-being of our students, and will not tolerate behavior that does not conform to that goal. Our staff is prepared to help our students during this situation, and know how it important it is to continue to build trust with our students and families,” said Principal Mindy McCarty-Stewart, through a release issued by Carson.
Carson said the district reported the allegations to the Ohio Department of Education, and the superintendent will recommend to the Mason Board of Education that Schuler be suspended without pay as the district begins termination proceedings. The school board is expected to act upon those recommendations at its next meeting on Tuesday.
Her duties included work as an athletic trainer for the high school’s girls and boys sports teams. She earned $53,194 in 2008, according to her personnel file.
Schuler had received a disciplinary action in November 2007 after two students were in the teacher’s classroom when they were not supposed to be there and were missing other classes, according to her personnel file.
At the time of the action, the teacher said the two students needed to work out some personal problems and remained in the teacher’s classroom, according to her file.
Schuler graduated from Centerville High School in 1996 and Wright State University in 2000. She was a student teacher at Fairmont High School in Kettering from 1999-2000, according to her file.
In her Health Education Philosophy that Schuler wrote as part of her application to work at Mason, Schuler wrote that she wanted to teach students about major risk factors for teenagers including “sexual behaviors that result in disease, STDs, and unwanted pregnancies.”
In the same statement Schuler said “Today’s society has its own standards of behavior, values, and norms that do not necessarily reflect healthy living,” and later asked “How can a child who is sexually active as a teenager learn about STDs and how to prevent unwanted pregnancies?”
