A special education teacher in South Carolina who received the 2025 Teacher of the Year award has been arrested on suspicion of assaulting a child.
Erin Wheeler, 34, faces charges of unlawful child neglect after an incident on November 27, according to arrest records. She allegedly followed a child into a bathroom and struck him multiple times in the forehead and upper body as the child attempted to protect himself.
According to police reports, the child suffered a bruise on his arm while trying to block the blows.
Authorities noted that the incident did not take place on school grounds.
Wheeler appeared in court recently, where her bail was set at $2,500, and she was ordered to refrain from contacting the child involved.
The victim’s mother criticized the court’s decision, calling the bond “low.”
School officials confirmed awareness of the situation but emphasized that no students were involved. The Whittemore School, which serves grades 9 to 12, has placed Wheeler on paid leave while an investigation is underway.
Wheeler was recognized as her school’s Teacher of the Year in March, praised for embodying the qualities of an outstanding educator. The Executive Director remarked that her innovative approach had significantly impacted students’ learning experiences.
Wheeler obtained her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Columbia University in 2014 and 2017, respectively, and started teaching at Whittemore in 2015.
This past fall, she began pursuing an education specialist degree focused on principalship at Arkansas State University.
Interestingly, just three weeks before the incident, Wheeler had been featured on social media discussing how the school empowers students and transforms their lives.
Wheeler’s passion for education was sparked in high school, inspired by a teacher, and she chose to specialize in special education partly because her older sister is deaf. She expressed a desire for others to recognize that different capabilities do not equate to being less deserving of respect.
