Updated: Arson charges filed against LPS teacher
By: Kali Nicole
knicole@klkntv.com
A former LPS teacher has been charged with 2nd degree arson in the fire that destroyed the Lincoln Public Schools District offices.
A one million dollar bond has also been set for 44-year-old Sharon Brewster. Court documents say Brewster turned herself into Lincoln police and told them she used a lighter to intentionally set on fire a box of files that was on top of a supervisors desk. She was arrested for arson Monday.
The Memorial Day blaze burned down the building near Cotner and O streets and caused more than $20 million in damages.
LPS says she was a gifted facilitator and reading recovery teacher for five years at Saratoga Elementary. KLKN interviewed Brewster at the school for a story three years ago, and back then, LPS agrees, she seemed very passionate about her work.
In her interview in 2008, Brewster said, “Sometimes we can get stuck on a level and you have to kind of analyze as to why that might be happening. You need to really work on specific behaviors and hope you get them turned around.”
LPS says it's a sad and shocking change to a woman they once valued as an employee but will now just have to work on moving past it. “Despite this disturbing finding, our school district must and will go on. One person seeking to cause damage will not prevent us from moving on with our role of serving the young people of Lincoln,” said Superintendent Steve Joel.
