Teacher barred from classroom after setting fire

The Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA -- A teacher who set a student's newspaper on fire to teach her a lesson about reading in class was convicted of two misdemeanors and barred from returning to the classroom anytime soon.

Diane Montelius, 31, was sentenced to two years probation after Municipal Court Judge Wendy Pew found her guilty Thursday of possessing an instrument of a crime and recklessly endangering another person.

As part of the sentence, Pew ordered Montelius to have no contact with children in a school setting during the two-year period, which would keep her from returning to teaching. Because of that, her lawyer said she would appeal the conviction and ask for a trial by jury. She automatically gets a jury trial under state law.

Montelius, a history teacher at the Philadelphia High School for Girls, had told students not to read materials other than classwork in her room.

She allegedly became angry May 9 that a student was reading a newspaper in class. Investigators said she confiscated the paper and set it alight.