Millsap ISD holds special board meeting after arrests of 3 educators

MILLSAP, Texas - Millsap ISD held a special school board meeting on Friday morning after three educators, including the superintendent, were arrested this week.

The arrests stem from a video that appears to show a teacher and a teacher’s aide mistreating a student in a classroom.

The board discussed potentially firing Millsap ISD Superintendent Mari Edie Martin. She is currently on unpaid leave.

The school board did not take any action on Friday, saying a final decision would be announced at Monday's meeting.

"We are, again, placing it on the agenda on Monday to go back and to make sure that everyone has been investigated fairly," said Jon Hartman, a Millsap ISD board member.

There was discussion during the meeting about installing cameras in special needs classrooms. 

The district is also considering bringing in an independent investigative firm to look at the elementary school administrators and their role.

What they're saying:

Several parents and community members spoke out about the alleged abuse and the superintendent's job during Friday morning's meeting.

"The parents should've been the first to know, yet they were left in the dark," said Jamie Riggs, who recorded the video evidence.

"As a mother, I trusted this whole system to protect my child and ensure his safety," said Whitney Price, the mother of a special needs child.

"I want you guys to consider how you're going to conduct this investigation where these teachers who had been led by fear and silenced for so long can actually feel like they can speak up," added another Millsap ISD community member.

The Texas Board of Education member representing the region also shared with the board his opinion in the matter stemming from the video that includes disturbing and criminal classroom behavior.

"If you would've reached out to those parents, you would have the facts and information. I know your investigation would not have been complete yet, but you would have the facts and information to know that you shouldn't come out with a statement defending your superintendent," Brandon Hall said.

3 educators arrested

What we know:

Two educators and the district’s superintendent were arrested this week.

According to arrest warrants, Millsap Elementary School teacher Jennifer Dale admitted to swinging at a child in the video but claimed it was playful. However, the documents list multiple alleged student victims.

Dale is charged with official oppression for "intentionally subjecting three known child victims to mocking, mistreating, and tormenting."

Paraprofessional Paxton Bean, also seen in the video, is also charged with official oppression and injury to a child for a separate incident. 

An arrest warrant alleges that in January, Bean took a child with special needs into a calm-down room, and the child later returned with a bloody nose. Bean told educators the child had run into a wall, but in a forensic interview, the child said Bean punched him.

Both Dale and Bean are no longer employed by the district.

Abuse Allegations

The backstory:

According to affidavits, the child in the video was regularly subjected to extensive timeouts, inappropriate comments about his private parts, and taunting.

His mother believes criminal charges would not have been filed if she hadn’t shared his story.

She claims three weeks passed before she was notified about the things that were happening in the classroom.

Superintendent faces felony charges

What we know:

Superintendent Martin is also facing a felony charge for failing to report the alleged child abuse with the intent to cover it up.

According to Millsap ISD and an arrest warrant affidavit, a witness showed Martin video of the incident which she had recorded on her cellphone on Feb. 19. 

However, Martin didn't report it to the Texas Education Agency until Feb. 28, nine days after learning about it. The suspected abuse was never reported to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services or the Parker County Sheriff's Office as required by law.

The sheriff's office learned about the case and contacted TxDFPS on March 4 after receiving a complaint from the alleged victim's parent.

The affidavit for Martin also accuses her of trying to cover up the incident.

"As events unfolded, Mari Martin directed witnesses in the case to not further discuss the incident with other staff or the parents of the children involved. Lastly, Mari Martin directed one witness to destroy videos and text messages directly related to the incident. These actions indicate that Mari failed to report with the intent to cover up the abuse," the affidavit states.

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