North Texas law enforcement agencies announced a new initiative Tuesday aimed at cracking down on school districts they say cover up widespread child abuse.
"Project Safe Schools" aims to hold school districts accountable for abuse, said Ryan Raybould, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas.
At a press conference Tuesday, Raybould said one goal was to prevent districts from quietly shuffling teachers with histories of misconduct to other schools or districts where they can target other students.
“The culture has to change,” Raybould said. “And the goal with Project Safe Schools is to change the culture from one of noncompliance and concealing sexual abuse, to one of compliance and getting rid of the bad apples and stopping ‘passing the trash.’”
Raybould said “a lot” of school districts are under investigation. He would not say exactly which or how many districts when asked by KERA.
“Educator misconduct is widespread," Raybould said. "And too many public school administrators in North Texas ISDs are failing to report, investigate and stop abuse.”
While it's not clear which districts Raybould was referring to, there have been a number of North Texas school officials who've faced scrutiny over the past decade.
Most recently, Plano ISD fired Brinker Elementary principal Jennifer King after accusations she ignored allegations of abuse against a longtime second grade teacher. That teacher, Paul Campbell, was charged with sexually abusing multiple students.
Officials also announced a $14,000 civil lawsuit settlement with Forney ISD, and two wire fraud charges against a teacher and principal in the district. The lawsuit and new charges stem from a state-level case that alleges Crosby Elementary School principal Wendy Bailey helped a teacher with prior child abuse charges get hired.
Michael Roell was arrested in 2016 for indecency with a minor involving a special needs child, but he was acquitted of the charge. He applied for a position in Crosby last year to teach special needs children, but was allegedly told by Bailey he needed to get a legal name change if he wanted to get hired.
Roell, who had changed his name to Jonathan Michael, was charged with two counts of injury to a child and one count of child grooming in May. Prosecutors allege the abuse happened to a child with special needs at Crosby.
“These are not allegations of negligence. They are allegations of deception,” Raybould said. “And they illustrate exactly how passing the trash operates inside real North Texas schools.”
Raybould said he hopes the initiative serves as a blueprint for other U.S. Attorney offices around the country to follow.
The Texas Education Agency has opened more than 9,720 educator misconduct investigations in the last two years, and at least 480 educators have been put on the do-not-hire registry, officials said.
School districts are encouraged to voluntarily disclose abuse here. Failing or delaying to report known abuse could result in school districts facing stricter civil penalties, officials said.
Dylan Duke is KERA's breaking news reporter. Got a tip? Email Dylan at dduke@kera.org.
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