Inset: Jason Rogers (Underwood School District). Background: The school where Rogers stepped on students' backs in Underwood, Minn. (Google Maps).
A Minnesota teacher may yet avoid significant time behind bars for stepping on students' backs during a lockdown drill.
On Tuesday, July 28, Jason Lowell Rogers, 49, received a stay of adjudication in Otter Tail County District Court.
Under Minnesota law, a stay of adjudication means a defendant pleads guilty, but the judge overseeing the matter does not formally accept the plea or record the conviction. Instead, a defendant is placed on probation and if all conditions are met, the case is dismissed. The process is akin to deferred adjudication — in which a charge remains pending while a defendant completes a probationary sentence.
Here, Rogers was ultimately sentenced to two years probation — during which he must surrender his teaching license in the Land of 10,000 Lakes and cannot teach in any state.
In March 2025, the defendant was charged with one count of malicious punishment of a child, St. Paul-based ABC affiliate KSTP reported. Later, prosecutors added two additional charges.
In the first case, the victim said he was lying on his stomach when Rogers, who weighed over 350 pounds at the time, stepped on his back with both feet for about 10 seconds, according to the complaint.
The child, one of Rogers' students, yelled out and began crying, saying his entire back hurt and he thought something was broken.
The teacher gave no words or warning before stepping on the boy, the sixth-grader said, characterizing the incident as being used like "a stepping stool," according to the complaint.
Law enforcement spoke with Rogers the next day.
During an interview, the teacher admitted to stepping on the boy, police said. The defendant said he saw two students lying down and "didn't feel the class was taking the drill seriously."
Rogers later admitted to stepping on two other students, according to Fargo, North Dakota-based NBC affiliate KVLY.
As for the first boy, the teacher said he "might have" stepped on him with both feet; for the other two students, he said that in one instance he used both feet on the student and in the other instance he was walking over the student.
After the charges were filed, Rogers was placed on administrative leave from his position, according to the Underwood School District.
Additional terms of Rogers' probation include completing an anger management assessment, performing 90 hours of community service, and writing letters of apology to each victim. The defendant was also ordered to pay $2,250 in fines and fees.