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A Celina ISD special education teacher's aide has been arrested Tuesday on accusations of impairment while on campus.
The incident makes the third arrest of a district employee in recent weeks, and the sixth employee to be placed on leave.
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Former Kilgore ISD employee gets deferred adjudication for improper relationship with student
A former instructional aide for Kilgore ISD received 10 years deferred adjucation for having an improper relationship with a student. Kayla Nicole O’Dell, 34, of Gladewater, pleaded guilty in Judge Novy’s courtroom Tuesday morning.
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Teacher sentenced to nearly two centuries in prison for child sex abuse conviction
When Texas A&M University President Mark A. Welsh III fired a professor after a video of her children’s literature class went viral in early September, he framed his decision as “academic responsibility.” The discussion of gender and sexuality captured in the video, recorded on July 29, didn’t “align with any reasonable expectation of standard curriculum,” Welsh said. He added that he only learned “yesterday” — September 8 — of a decision by two administrators that approved plans for a fall course teaching content inconsistent with its published description, which led him to both fire the instructor and
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Wrestling coach Neil Phillips is accused of making sexually inappropriate comments to students in Melissa ISD, where he previously worked.
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Police confirm second Celina ISD teacher arrest this month at same middle school
The woman was a teacher at Moore Middle School, the same campus at the center of a case involving a coach recording children in the locker room.
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A Celina ISD teacher is in jail after police said she was impaired while on the campus of Moore Middle School.
She’s the second teacher from the school to face criminal charges this month.
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Mansfield Legacy High School teacher fired after arrest for child porn, abuse charges
A Mansfield ISD teacher was fired this week after his arrest on charges of child pornography, sexual assault of a child and improper relationship with a student.
Jared Young, 33, was a science teacher at Legacy High School and a coach of freshman football and basketball teams.
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Principal who held ‘not sanctioned’ meeting will not return to Dallas high school
The Dallas ISD principal who allegedly called a meeting of only Black students to discuss their academic performance will not return to her job. In a letter sent to parents Tuesday night, Dallas ISD Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde told Woodrow Wilson High parents that “after reviewing preliminary details,” principal Chandra Hooper-Barnett will not return.
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The Leon school district in Leon County has shared a statement about action taken Monday evening on a teacher who was placed on leave last week by the school district.
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The 2025 school year was déjà vu all over again – nice pay increases for many administrators and persistently low student outcomes. ACT college-readiness in English, Reading, Math, and Science set another low record, dropping from 32% in 2015 to just 17% in 2025.
Editors Note: We often post articles form organizations that are known for not supporting Public Ed. We post these for you to read because these are what your public is reading. The folks on your board or coming to your office and at TexasISD.com we think it is important to know and understand both sides of these issues to adequately debate and defend Public Ed.
view articleEx-Killeen ISD custodian pleads guilty to illegally re-entering U.S. after deportation
A former Harker Heights High School custodian pleaded guilty Tuesday to illegally re-entering the United States after her deportation 14 years ago. Ofelia Negrete-Arriaga, 57, who worked at different times for the Killeen school district for a total of 19 years, faces up to two years in federal prison and deportation after her guilty plea before U.S. Magistrate Judge Derek Gilliland.
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ABILENE, Texas — A longtime Abilene ISD educator was recognized on Saturday for decades of dedication to teaching English as a second language. Clack Middle School teacher Veronica Long was honored during Summit K-12's annual award ceremony with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
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The principal of Dallas ISD's Woodrow Wilson High School has been replaced by an interim leader after three years in the job after a "recent incident" on campus.
In a letter to families sent Monday, Aaron Aguirre-Castillo, executive director of the Woodrow Wilson vertical team, said Chandra Hooper-Barnett will be replaced while the district reviews the details of what happened. The incident did "not reflect the values and expectations of our community," the letter reads, but it doesn't include details.
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A Collinsville ISD high school baseball coach has been placed on administrative leave over allegations of inappropriate communication with a student. Collinsville ISD superintendent Matthew Davenport confirmed that Collinsville High School baseball coach Derrick Jenkins has been placed on leave after receiving a report of inappropriate communication between Jenkins and a Collinsville ISD student.
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The Brownsville Independent School District issued a statement Monday, saying it is mourning the loss of a middle school security officer. In the statement, the district reports that Ramiro Torres, a security officer at Manzano Middle School, has died.
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2 Cedar Hill ISD employees placed on leave amid investigation into allegations involving former students, school official says
Cedar Hill ISD is working with police to investigate allegations involving former students and two of the district's band directors, according to a letter from Cedar Hill High School's principal sent to parents that was obtained by WFAA.
According to the letter, the two employees were placed on leave pending the result of the police investigation. The letter stated that there are no allegations involving current students.
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Celina ISD Faces State Criminal Inquiry Over Claimed Coverup of Coach Preying on Boys
AG Ken Paxton said his office will investigate the district’s alleged coverup of Coach Caleb Elliott’s sexual misconduct after State Rep. Jeff Leach asked him to intervene. Embattled Celina Independent School District now faces a state criminal investigation into claims that administrators covered up a coach’s past predatory behavior toward male students, enabling him to record undressed middle school boys in the locker room. On Friday, Paxton posted to X that his office is investigating.
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Houston ISD’s special education office cuts about 50 employees as part of reorganization
Houston ISD is cutting about 50 employees under the office of special education as part of a reorganization that moves the division into the department of academics. HISD said Thursday the cuts mostly affect staff directors and coordinators who don't work directly with students in the classroom. The last day for employees working on campuses is Nov. 3. The employees are eligible to reapply for other positions in the district, according to the statement.
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The Groveton school district in Trinity County has formally responded to KBTX’s reporting of an investigation involving Centerville ISD’s superintendent. In our reporting, KBTX confirmed Centerville ISD Superintendent Carole Dickey was indicted by a grand jury this month on a charge of failing to notify the Texas Education Agency of an educator accused of having a romantic relationship with a student.
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Victims sue Celina ISD, claiming district hid coach’s history of sexual misconduct
Attorneys, representing several Celina ISD victims, say the school district had evidence that a coach was a sexual predator, but he was allowed to keep his job.
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Former Hondo ISD teacher arrested, accused of improper relationship with student, police say
A former Hondo High School teacher arrested on multiple charges Thursday is accused of having an improper relationship with a student, according to police. Thomas William Ricker Hill, 24, was taken into custody for indecency with a child by sexual contact, sexual performance by a child and improper relationship between educator and student, police said. Hill was later booked into the Medina County jail.
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Centerville ISD employee under investigation for alleged ‘unprofessional’ conduct with student
Centerville ISD is again at the center of an investigation involving a member of its staff. Assistant Superintendent Dottie Sullivan sent a statement to parents on Tuesday, notifying them of an allegation regarding an employee’s “unprofessional conduct” involving a student on the elementary campus. No additional information was shared, but Sullivan said the district is committed to full transparency. “Please be assured that student safety and campus integrity remain our highest priority,” she said. The Leon County Sheriff’s Office and Child Protective Services are each conducting their own investigations into this case, Sullivan confirmed.
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DeShawn Parks is charged with indecency with a child by sexual contact. A Lancaster High School music teacher is on administrative leave after being accused of sexually touching a minor. Assistant Band Director DeShawn Darrell Parks, 39, was arrested on October 10 and charged with indecency with a child by sexual contact, a second-degree felony punishable by 2 to 20 years in prison. Parks has worked for Lancaster Independent School District for more than 10 years.
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Cedar Hill ISD board of trustees deny grievance, won’t return Melanie Benjamin to AD role
It was past midnight when the Cedar Hill ISD board of trustees emerged from closed session to vote on a Level III grievance filed against the school district on behalf of former CHISD athletic director Melanie Benjamin. At the end of a board meeting that lasted nearly six hours, Benjamin was present to watch the trustees vote to deny her grievance, despite an overwhelming show of public support for Benjamin earlier in the evening.
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Days after 33-year-old Alvarado High School teacher Chelsea Spillers was found dead in her home, her neighbor says the community is grappling with guilt and disbelief. “I think we're all kind of feeling that, we wish we had known, or we wish we had taken more action,” said neighbor Ashley Crow, who lives nearby.
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A bus monitor for the Leander Independent School District is accused of sex crimes against a student. Steven Wade Lackey, 70, was arrested and charged with two counts of indecency with a child by sexual contact, a second-degree felony. The Cedar Park Police Department said Tuesday it had received a report from Leander ISD on October 8 regarding allegations of indecency with a child involving a district transportation employee. The Special Victims Unit investigated and obtained an arrest warrant. Cedar Park Police arrested Lackey on October 14 and he was booked into the Williamson County Jail. Bond was set at $250,000 for each charge. Jail records indicate the offenses occurred in August.
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An Austin Independent School District teacher was recently detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), district officials confirmed. The district sent a letter to families confirming that Roberto López Falcón, a teacher at Hart Elementary School, had been detained by ICE. School officials said they were not aware of complete details surrounding the incident but noted it did not occur at or near the campus.
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Celina coach’s son resigns, faces child pornography charges as parents confront school board
At a special meeting Wednesday night, Celina ISD’s revered football family found itself at the center of heartbreak and public outrage. Caleb Elliott, 26, resigned and surrendered his teaching license before the meeting — but his fate was still front and center as parents, board members, and community leaders gathered to reckon with the charges against him and his fate with the district.
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Houston ISD’s Westside High School principal resigns to join another area school district
The principal of one of Houston ISD's largest schools announced Thursday she is resigning to join another school district. Alisa C. Zapata announced her last day at Westside High School will be Oct. 31, and assistant principal Tyrone Davis will step in as interim. Zapata will become chief learning officer at another Houston-area school district.
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Five of the six candidates running for College Station ISD board positions gathered Wednesday evening to discuss key issues facing the district ahead of the November 2025 election.
The candidate forum, hosted by the district, focused heavily on funding challenges, enrollment numbers, and the ongoing needs of teachers within the district.
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Anna ISD teacher arrested following removal from classroom during incident, officials say
An Anna ISD elementary teacher has been arrested and is no longer employed by the district following an incident last week, officials said.
The teacher was removed from a classroom at Hendricks Elementary on Oct. 8 after Anna ISD was made aware of a situation involving the teacher, according to an Anna ISD statement to The Dallas Morning News.
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Michael Bo Peacock and his co-conspirator exploited more than 100 child victims. A former Grapevine girls’ basketball coach was sentenced to 40 years in federal prison for engaging in a conspiracy to sexually exploit children and produce child sexual abuse material, commonly known as child pornography. Michael Bo Peacock, 50, pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of conspiracy to produce child pornography and one count of enticing a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity. Prior to his arrest in November 2023, Peacock was a high school girls’ basketball coach at Grapevine Faith Christian School, a private school for pre-K through 12th grade students.
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‘It’s shocking’: Parents react as data show assaults of educators across El Paso districts
New data obtained by KFOX14/CBS4 reveals the amount of alleged assaults on teachers and educators across El Paso's largest school districts, raising safety concerns among parents. Over the past five years, El Paso ISD reported the highest number of incidents, followed by Ysleta ISD, with Socorro ISD reporting the fewest.
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Investigation leads to second arrest of Celina ISD teacher on child pornography charge
The Celina Police Department today announced an update on the investigation of a Celina ISD teacher/coach who was first taken into custody on Friday, October 3, 2025.
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