Former Jimtown teacher charged with battery

JIMTOWN, Ind. -- It's been a week since former Jimtown High School teacher Mike Hosinski asked a student to leave his classroom, before he followed him down the hallway, grabbed him by his bookbag and slapped him across the face and into a brick wall-- giving him a bloody nose and lip, and left his head "throbbing."

On Monday, the Baugo Community School Board elected to push through Hosinski's early retirement-- at his request-- and gave him full retirement benefits.

The next day, the Elkhart County Sheriff's Department revealed Hosinski was under investigation-- and yesterday announced he had been arrested-- a move that former student Amy Bowen supports.

“As a teacher, you’re supposed to teach right from wrong," she said. "Violence is never the answer to someone being mouthy.”

Bowen was in Hosinski's class when she attended Jimtown-- and her own children have had him as a teacher. She said he's always had a loud personality, and would pick at students, but lately, things have been getting worse. 

“The last few years, he’s really been getting a bit over the top with his preaching on things, and kind of pushing his propagandas on people and telling classes if they don’t believe him," Bowen said. "It seemed like he was getting more hostile.”

Bowen even pulled her daughter from his class because of how she felt about his behavior. 

While many other parents and former students have come out in support of Hosinski-- and rumors that the child struck was a trouble-maker-- Bowen said he needs to face the consequences of his actions.

“He knew that it was wrong, and you deserve to be punished. I mean, if he feels he was pushed to that point—I get that people snap—but when you snap, you pay the consequences. That’s just how it is," she said.

Bowen added that the school district needs to accept some of the blame as well-- and that giving him his retirement benefits was a step too far. 

“It needs to be a mark on his record. He made a major mistake," said Bowen. "And just to kind of say ‘here’s your pension, go ahead and go so we don’t have to deal with this—' that’s how I feel, that Jimtown just wiped their hands of it. The investigation should’ve happened, not just give him his pension.”

We reached out to Hosinski for comment, though our request was declined. We also reached out to Baugo Community Schools for a statement, but they have refused to comment. 

Hosinski will be in court for the first time on March 10.