Blount County school director calls for firing of special education teacher facing ‘disturbing’ accusations
BLOUNT COUNTY, Tenn. (WVLT) - Blount County Schools Director Justin Ridge has called for the firing of Kathryn Goins, a tenured special education teacher, because of several disturbing incidents involving students dating back to 2020.
Ridge released a lengthy statement to the public and media after Thursday night’s school board meeting. In it, he said he had learned that Goins had been accused of “disturbing and unacceptable” conduct in the past, but leadership at the time had failed to correctly investigate or even notify law enforcement of.
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“What I have learned over the past few weeks has been difficult to process,” Ridge’s statement said. “The conduct described in the documentation — which includes multiple notarized statements from staff who worked directly with Ms. Goins at the time — paints a picture of behavior that is not only unprofessional, but also which raises serious ethical and moral concerns."
The call for Goins’ dismissal is the product of a human resources audit from late last year, which in turn was prompted by the case of Joseph Dalton, another Blount County teacher who recently pleaded guilty to five counts of assault against students .
A lengthy document provided to WVLT News by the school system contains several pieces of evidence outlining issues with Goins dating back to 2020, when she worked at Union Grove Elementary School. She’s been accused of:
- Playing with and shaking her hair to a special education student who was known to become easily aroused and masturbate. She was also accused of making assistant instructors change him after he “finished,” something the documents claim happened more than 50 times.
- Locking herself inside a bathroom with a student, alone, then telling assistants she was allowed to do so even though it went against district policy.
- Touching a student’s penis while helping him use the restroom.
On top of those allegations, the district’s documents said Goins was the daughter of a then-Blount County Schools Board of Education member and the daughter of Union Grove’s secretary.
The evidence itself is in the form of several complaints from several people who worked in Gions’ classroom at the time. They focus on two students, who WVLT will not name in this story to protect their identities.
Goins has since been placed on administrative leave after transferring to Heritage High School, where she’s worked since. It’s a complicated situation, dating back five years. Here’s how the timeline works out:
Jed West is the principal of Heritage High School. He released his own statement Friday, saying he was not told at the time about her accusations.
“I was not made aware of the circumstances surrounding her transfer, nor was I informed of the serious concerns related to her prior conduct,” he said. “I fully support Director Ridge’s handling of this matter and the actions he has taken to ensure accountability within our school system.”
WVLT also confirmed Friday that the state’s Department of Children’s Services was investigating Goins.
Below are both Ridge’s and West’s statements in full:
Kathryn Goins Statements from Justin Ridge and Jed West by WVLT News on Scribd
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