Underwood teacher gets probation, loses teaching license after stepping on students during lockdown drill
UNDERWOOD, Minn. (Valley News Live) – An Underwood teacher charged with malicious punishment of a child after stepping on students’ backs during a lockdown drill has been sentenced to two years of probation and must surrender his teaching license in any state.
Jason Lowell Rogers, 49, received a stay of adjudication Tuesday on all three counts of malicious punishment of a child in Otter Tail County District Court. Under the terms of the order, if Rogers successfully completes two years of supervised probation, all three 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 and follow its recommendations, 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.
As Valley News Live previously reported, 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 as well.
Rogers had been placed on administrative leave from the school following the charges.
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