Elizabethton teacher fired for dragging student by backpack has assault hearing delayed
ELIZABETHTON, Tenn. (WJHL) — Former Elizabethton schoolteacher Nicole Horne, who was recorded dragging a fifth-grader across a gym floor during an intramural basketball game in November 2023, had her criminal case postponed in Carter County Sessions Court Wednesday.
An assistant district attorney, Will Monk, and Horne’s defense counsel, Robert Black, both told Judge Keith Bowers they were attempting to reach a resolution on her case that could allow them to make the same recommendation. Horne may seek judicial diversion, which could allow the charges to be expunged from her record if she meets certain requirements.
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Horne, 41, faces two charges — assault and child abuse and neglect — stemming from a police investigation that began almost immediately after the Nov. 13 incident at East Side Elementary.
One adult witness described the scene of Horne dragging the student as “only reminiscent of a very aggressive owner dragging a disobedient dog by the collar.”
Horne was suspended without pay the day of the incident and fired by the Elizabethton School Board on Dec. 19 after an investigation. Elizabethton City Schools Superintendent Richard VanHuss provided the following statement when requested by News Channel 11:
We hold ourselves to a high standard regarding our interactions with students. The safety and well-being of our students is a responsibility we take very seriously, and we will respond appropriately when needed.
Judge Bowers set a status hearing on the criminal charges for April 3.
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Multiple witness reports in Horne’s personnel file describe the runup to the incident as having started when the child complained that a foul had not been called.
Accounts of how much interaction the two shared vary, but video from a school system security camera shows Horne — wearing a referee jersey — pulling the student toward the door by the backpack. Horne is moving at a trot and the student falls onto his side about six feet from the gym doors.
The video then shows Horne turn to pull the student out of the double doors, shut one of the doors and stride back into the gym with a whistle still in her mouth.
Notes from Horne’s file show the boy told a teacher several minutes later, and before 9 a.m., Principal Travis Hurley conducted an initial interview with Horne. Interview notes say Horne admitted to Hurley she had taken the student out by his backpack.
“She reported he was questioning the calls on the basketball floor and not in his seat,” the report notes, adding, “She asked him to leave the gym and he did not comply.”
“She then said she knew it was a mistake and that she would probably lose her job of 15 years.”
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At 10:30 a.m. the same day, Hurley told Horne she’d be suspended without pay, and told her he was turning the information over to human resources.
“Coach Horne then stated that ‘she felt like she did the right thing because he was being very disrespectful and she wanted to keep the game going,'” a note from that interview states.
A week later, on Nov. 20, Hurley recommended to VanHuss that Horne be fired.
The adult witness who wrote a report stated that they were involved in their own intramural game when they saw “Coach Horne’s efforts to address behavior that was agitating” and then heard Horne verbally warn the student.
“The context of this particular match between 5th-grade boys and girls was challenging, characterized by mismanagement and disorder before, during, and after the incident solely by Coach Horne,” the witness wrote.
The other adult stepped away from their game to watch more closely, “recognizing the need for intervention,” and saw another interaction between Horne and the student during which her “frustration with the student escalated,” according to the witness.
The note then describes Horne grabbing the top neck strap of the child’s backpack. “Disturbingly, she dragged him out of the gym…” the note reads before making the reference to a dog owner.
Following a police investigation that began Nov. 14, the state charged Horne with two class A misdemeanors.
Court records show that Horne was considering filing for judicial diversion, which can lead to the expungement of a criminal conviction and take it completely off a person’s record. Certain defendants with no or very limited criminal background can apply through the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI). If they qualify, they can request diversion.
If that is granted, the defendant pleads guilty, serves probation and has other requirements in an agreed order. If those are met, the person can apply for expungement after completing probation.
Horne had taught at Elizabethton for 10 years and was named building-level teacher of the year in 2019.
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