Teacher weighing more than 350 pounds sentenced for stepping on students’ backs during lockdown drill

UNDERWOOD, Minn. (KVLY/Gray News) — A teacher in Minnesota was sentenced Tuesday after he stepped on students’ backs during a lockdown drill as a form of punishment.

Jason Lowell Rogers, 49, was sentenced Tuesday to two years’ probation. He must surrender his teaching license in any state.

Rogers was charged with three counts of malicious punishment of a child.

He received a stay of adjudication Tuesday on all three counts. A stay of adjudication is a legal arrangement in which the court temporarily puts proceedings on hold and delays entering a formal conviction, even though the defendant enters a guilty plea.

If Rogers follows all court rules, the charges will be dismissed. If he violates probation, the court can enter a conviction.

As conditions of his probation, Rogers must surrender his teaching license in any state, complete an anger management assessment, perform 90 hours of community service and write letters of apology to each victim. He was also ordered to pay $2,250 in fines and fees.

Rogers was charged in March 2025 after deputies were called to Lake Region Hospital following an incident at Underwood School in February 2025.

A sixth-grade student told investigators that Rogers, who court records indicate weighs more than 350 pounds, stepped on his back with both feet while the student was lying on his stomach during a lockdown drill. Rogers later admitted to stepping on two other students.

Rogers was placed on administrative leave from the school following the charges.