Gym Teacher’s Ultimatum: Run a Lap or Kiss Her Foot

School officials in San Dimas are investigating complaints by two parents that a physical education teacher ordered her students to run a lap or kiss her foot.

The parents said their children told them that the teacher, Kathy Stewart, gave the students the bizarre ultimatum near the end of a class last week. The students told their parents that their classmates at Lone Hill Intermediate School seemed taken aback by the order--which did not appear to be intended as punishment--but eventually all but three chose to kiss her foot instead of run.

One parent, Linda Looyenga, whose daughter was among those who kissed the teacher’s foot, said she first heard of the incident from another parent whose son had complained about the incident.

“I thought it was a joke at first,” Looyenga said. “I didn’t quite understand it. It just sounded so silly. It was so weird. I couldn’t believe it.”

Looyenga said that her daughter was so humiliated by the incident that she would not discuss it at first.

“I just said, ‘What happened in P.E. Friday,’ and she said, ‘I don’t remember.’ It was obvious she was lying,” Looyenga said. “It wasn’t so much what she said, it was the look on her face. She (later) said it was embarrassing and that’s why she didn’t want to tell me about it.”

Looyenga said her daughter told her she had tried to “fake” kissing the teacher’s foot but was caught in the ruse.

“The teacher said, ‘That’s not good enough. Do it right,’ ” Looyenga said.

The complaints against the teacher came to light this week at a meeting of the Bonita Unified School District’s Board of Trustees. Parent Cherri Schluter told the board that Stewart has in the past demanded that students kiss her hand before she would give them permission to go to the restroom.

Schluter said the teacher tried to justify her actions to her students during class on Wednesday.

“She sat them down and told them, ‘It was only a joke. It was your choice to kiss my foot. I didn’t force you. And I’m not going to be fired over something like this,’ ” Schluter said.

Schluter said the teacher left a message on her telephone answering machine Friday, requesting that they meet to discuss the matter.

“I’m going to give her a chance to explain it, to come up with something plausible,” Schluter said. “I don’t know how she can. I can’t think of any valid reason why you would want to embarrass or humiliate a kid.”

Strong Objection

School board member Sharon Scott said the district is taking the allegations seriously, adding that she objected strongly to the teacher’s reported behavior.

“In my personal opinion, it was at best an exercise in poor judgment and at worst--if it was a punitive sort of thing--it was outrageous,” Scott said. “It is not an issue that is going to be swept under the rug.”

Stewart did not return phone calls. Lone Hill Principal Adolphous D. Carter would not accept a phone call from a reporter, referring all questions to the district office. Richard Bartholome, deputy superintendent for personnel services, would say only that the school district is looking into the complaints raised at the board meeting.