PSD employee arrested on accusations he hit kindergartner on school bus multiple times

Fort Collins police arrested a Poudre School District paraprofessional Wednesday after reviewing video they say showed him hitting a kindergarten student with disabilities on a school bus multiple times.

Police were first notified of a possible assault on Tuesday, according to a news release sent by police Wednesday evening. The arrest followed an investigation by Fort Collins Police Services school resource officers working in collaboration with school and PSD staff, the school district said in a Wednesday night email to parents of students at Shepardson Elementary School.

In that email, the district identified the bus as No. 2253. Police say surveillance footage from the bus showed a Poudre School District paraprofessional hitting the student multiple times April 25, May 19 and May 22.

Tyler Zanella, 36, was arrested Wednesday and booked into the Larimer County Jail.

Zanella was formally charged Thursday with three counts apiece of third-degree assault against an at-risk juvenile, a Class 6 felony; third-degree assault, a Class 1 misdemeanor; and knowingly or recklessly causing child abuse, a Class 2 misdemeanor.

Larimer County Court Judge Jeffrey M. Schwartz set Zanella's bond at $5,000 and issued a protection order restricting Zanella from visiting any elementary school, including that of his own children.

His next court date was set for June 6.

Zanella had previously pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of negligent child abuse in Adams County in 2012, court records show. He was sentenced to 18 months probation, which was later reduced to 13 months. Additional information on that case was not available Thursday, and most of the court documents had been destroyed, an Adams County court official said in an email. There was no immediate reply to a follow-up email about why those documents had been destroyed.

PSD received a full background check on Zanella before he was hired, PSD spokesperson Emily Shockley said Thursday, and he was asked about the child-abuse misdemeanor on his record before he was hired. Another charge related to that incident was dismissed by the district attorney, court records show.

Zanella was placed on paid administrative leave Tuesday by Poudre School District “as soon as staff became aware of the video footage,” PSD said in the email to parents. He was terminated Wednesday, Shockley confirmed.

The student’s parents have been informed, according to the district's email to parents, which noted that the district will not identify them to protect their privacy.

Between the morning and afternoon routes Tuesday, district staff saw the video footage of Zanella's actions on the bus on May 19 and May 22. He was placed on leave immediately, Shockley said, and did not work the afternoon route that day.

District staff and law enforcement didn't review video from April 25 until after they had reviewed the footage from May 19 and May 22, she said.

The bus driver and other students were on the bus when each of the alleged assaults occurred, Shockley said.

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Zanella had worked for PSD since Aug. 29, 2022. He was a paraprofessional bus attendant, tasked with assisting bus drivers. A summary of the job's description, provided Thursday by PSD, reads: "Minimize driver distractions and assist with ensuring students are safe during the loading, unloading, transporting, and transferring on buses."

Zanella worked on nine different bus routes during the 2022-23 school year, a district spokeswoman said. Families of students on routes who hadn't already been notified of his arrest were expected to be notified Thursday, she said. The other bus routes were Nos. 2029, 2030, 2090, 2305, 2309, 2310, 2311 and 2312.

An email to staff of impacted schools was scheduled to go out Friday. Many of those routes serve multiple schools, Shockley said, identifying the impacted schools as Bacon, Bamford, Bethke, Cache la Poudre, Kruse, Linton, Riffenburgh, Shepardson, Timnath and Werner elementaries; Blevins, Kinard, Preston and Webber middle schools; Timnath Middle-High School; Fossil Ridge and Rocky Mountain high schools; Community Connections and Cooper Home.

Fort Collins police said officers have reason to believe there may be additional victims and asked anyone with information regarding this case or other cases involving Zanella to contact Officer Dexter Rowe at 970-472-3705.

“Thousands of PSD employees choose to work with children every day because we want to see them grow and succeed, make sure their needs are met, and be a source of stability and security," PSD superintendent Brian Kingsley said in a prepared statement shared by the district Friday. "What is in this arrest report represents the exact opposite of everything we stand for, and my colleagues and I are understandably heartbroken for the child involved and any other children who may be impacted."

All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in court. Arrests and charges are merely accusations by law enforcement until, and unless, a suspect is convicted of a crime.

Reporter Kelly Lyell covers education, breaking news, some sports and other topics of interest for the Coloradoan. Contact him at kellylyell@coloradoan.com, twitter.com/KellyLyell or facebook.com/KellyLyell.news.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Poudre School District employee arrested, accused of hitting student on bus