BLOUNT COUNTY, Tenn. (Story courtesy of WVLT) – Parents have filed a lawsuit against Blount County Schools and several former employees following accusations that former middle school teacher Kathryn Goins physically and sexually abused students with disabilities.
According to the lawsuit, this happened between 2018 and 2020 when Goins was a special education teacher at Union Grove Middle School.
Even though there were detailed reports, the lawsuit claims the then-Director of Schools Rob Britt and Principal John Webb “quietly transferred” Goins to another school instead of firing her.
The parents said they were never told about the abuse and only found out about it five years later through a random human resources audit.
- 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 document claims 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.
The lawsuit also names Fred Goins, a former member of the Blount County Board of Education and the father of the accused teacher.
It also claims that Fred Goins made unannounced visits to classrooms to allegedly intimidate staff members who wanted to report his daughter.
The parents claim in the lawsuit this influence is why their children were left in the dangerous situation for years.
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services have been investigating Goins.
WVLT has reached out to the Blount County District Attorney General and to Blount County Schools for comment.
