Former Grafton teacher will spend two years on probation in connection with threats made toward students
After being initially charged with making terroristic threats, a former Grafton teacher has been sentenced to two years' probation after pleading guilty to lesser charges.
The charges stemmed from an incident in which David Schroeder threatened students over swastika drawings he found in his classroom.
Schroeder, who was a seventh-grade math teacher at Grafton Middle School, pleaded guilty March 4 in Ozaukee County Circuit Court to three misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct/use of a dangerous weapon, according to online court records. In addition to the probation, a jail sentence of four months was stayed, but could be enforced if Schroeder violates the terms of his probation.
Schroeder was charged in May 2023. He pleaded not guilty in July 2023 to the original charge of making terroristic threats, a felony. If convicted, he could have faced a fine up to $10,000 and 3½ years in prison.
According to the criminal complaint, a parent reported her son told her that a teacher had made threatening statements to students about guns and physically harming them. The threats came after Schroeder reportedly found a notebook in the classroom that had a swastika on it.
On May 12, 2023, Schroeder found two students who had the drawing. Multiple students reported that Schroeder screamed or yelled threatening statements at them. One student said Schroeder told the entire class that the drawing was not appropriate and that he said, "I wish pain on all of you and your families."
Schroeder told students he would have his daughter come to their homes with a baseball bat, the complaint said. He also told students that he had 17 guns in his basement.
Schroeder later admitted to the school's principal that he made the threats and was subsequently escorted out of school, the complaint said.
The complaint also detailed a chaotic environment at the school in the wake of Schroeder's threats. Several students went to the main office, expressing fears about the situation. Office staff took multiple phone calls from concerned parents. Some parents picked up their children midday after their children texted them saying they did not feel safe at school.
The police department was requested to provide additional patrols at an event scheduled for that evening at nearby Woodview Middle School out of concern for what Schroeder might do.
The principal said Schroeder was already being investigated for other concerning or inappropriate behavior toward students. The district had already decided before the May 12 incident that it would not renew Schroeder's contract, the complaint said.
Grafton School District superintendent Jeff Nelson and Grafton Police Department chief Jeff Caponera both said in a letter to parents May 14, 2023, that the district and police would investigate the source of the drawings and would take whatever action they deemed necessary.
Caponera said that there was one student identified as a student of interest, but after speaking to that student and searching the student's locker, it was determined that student was not involved.
"So, from that standpoint, there was nothing further done. We kept coming across dead ends and there was no further leads to follow up on. That portion of it is still left undetermined. We're not sure who created those drawings," Caponera said in a phone interview March 11.
Grafton School District superintendent Jeff Nelson confirmed what Caponera said about the investigation into the swastika drawings in a March 11 email to the Journal Sentinel. He also said that Schroeder is no longer an employee in the district and that the district had "no other comments on him."
Contact Alec Johnson at (262) 875-9469 or alec.johnson@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @AlecJohnson12.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Former Grafton teacher pleads guilty, sentenced to probation
