A middle school counsellor in Texas has been arrested for allegedly conducting an inappropriate relationship with one of her students.
Authorities arrested Blanco Middle School counsellor Lisa Rogers on 11 April. School district superintendent Jon Buck Ford sent a letter to families the next day, announcing an “ongoing criminal investigation” into the matter.
“We are providing counselling services to students on our high school and middle school campuses, and will do everything we can to support them during this time,” Mr Ford wrote.
The Texas Department of Public Safety confirmed to The Independent that they are investigating the allegations.
A Blanco County Sheriff's department spokesperson told The Independent Ms Rogers has since been released on bail. According to Mr Ford, she has not returned to school.
Mr Ford told The Independent it is school district policy to discipline or fire any employee who engages in inappropriate relationships with pupils. The district board of trustees has scheduled a meeting for 17 April to discuss the possibility of suspending Ms Rogers without pay.
Ms Rogers has worked with the district for 20 years, according to local news station KXAN . The Blanco County News reports she is married to Danny Rogers, the athletic director for the school district.
“I always liked her,” one Blanco High School student told KXAN. “I never thought that she was someone that was off, or would do something like that.”
State lawmakers renewed their push to combat student-teacher relationships in the days following the arrest. The state House is currently considering a bill that would strip the license of any teacher convicted of having an inappropriate relationship with a student, effectively barring them from being hired by another district.
The Texas Education Agency reported a record 222 allegations of inappropriate teacher-student relationships in the 2015-2016 fiscal year. The number is the highest since the agency began tracking allegations.
