A troubled Texas school district has been rocked by a fourth arrest of a teacher in recent weeks - the most recent being a special education worker who allegedly showed up to class while impaired.
Micheale Clark, a 46-year-old teacher’s aide from Celina Independent School District, was taken into police custody after she “appeared to be impaired,” authorities said. Clark was taken to the Collin County jail and booked on a charge of endangering a disabled individual.
Clark is the fourth Celina ISD employee to be arrested in recent weeks.
The string of arrests has left residents in the district - which is located outside of Dallas - frustrated.
“There is a failure here top to bottom on doing their job,” said attorney Brad Beckworth, who filed a lawsuit over one of the recent arrests, according to WFAA.
In one of the other arrests, William Caleb Elliott was charged in early October with invasive visual recording and booked into the Collin County Jail, the Celina Police Department announced at the time. Authorities said a charge of possession or promotion of child pornography was later added.
Elliott , 26, was a sixth-grade history teacher and eighth-grade coach at Moore Middle School. He had been placed on administrative leave indefinitely and then later resigned, WFAA reported.
A lawsuit brought on behalf of the families of Moore Middle School students against Elliott and the district claimed the educator had been moved to the middle school after having an inappropriate relationship with a student while working at Celina High School, WFAA reported.
Celina ISD athletic director Bill Elliott, who is the suspect’s father, was put on leave after the arrest. So was Allison Ginn, the principal of Moore Middle School.
"I understand your anger. I understand your frustration. I get it. It’s horrible. He will face the consequences that will come to him,” Bill Elliott said at a recent school board meeting.
On October 10, a 50-year-old paraprofessional with Celina ISD was arrested and accused of getting in a fight outside of school property, WFAA reported. Kristine Coates was booked into the Collin County jail on a charge of injury to a child/elderly/disabled individual. She resigned from the district after his arrest.
Moore Middle School teacher Jainya Walder, 40, was arrested last week after she “appeared to be impaired” on the job, the Celina Police Department said. She was charged with endangering a child.
Neil Phillips, a world geography teacher and head wrestling coach at Celina High School, was placed on administrative leave after the school district was informed about allegations of inappropriate conduct when he was working at nearby Melissa ISD, CBS Texas reported. Officials said he did not tell the Celina that he was under investigation for allegations at another school.
The Independent has reached out to Celina ISD and Melissa ISD for comment.
