Sportlight: Improper teacher-student relations on rise in Texas

The number of Texas teachers accused of having improper relations with students is a big concern to parents, as more cases are being reported each year in the state.

Texas law prohibits a sexual relationship between an educator and student, even if the relationship is consensual. An improper relationship with a student can result in a criminal conviction, imprisonment and financial penalties.

Between Sept. 1 and Aug. 31, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) began investigations into 222 teachers who were accused of acting improperly with students, said TEA spokeswoman DeEtta Culbertson. That's 34 more cases than the same period last year.

In the six-year span from September 2010 to Aug. 31, TEA investigated 1,201 cases of improper teacher-student relations, according to Culbertson. Most of the cases involved well-liked teachers and coaches who used social media and text messages have an inappropriate relationship with a minor student.

Culbertson said that TEA keeps only statewide numbers. "We do not break down our cases by district or county," she said.

A conviction for sexual relationship between teacher and student is punishable by up to 20 years in a Texas prison and a fine of up to 10,000 U.S. dollars.

Today, reports of improper teacher-student relations have become all too common for school administrators and parents.

In January, a teacher at the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders in South Austin was placed on administrative leave for having an improper relationship with a student. Austin school district police said the incident took place before the Christmas break.

In January 2015, a former Spring Branch ISD teacher was sentenced to two years in prison for sexual assault of a child. Kathryn CamilleMurray, 31, pleaded guilty in 2014 after admitting to having sex with a 15-year-old boy at Memorial Middle School.

In March 2014, Corrie Ann Long, a math teacher at Hopper Middle School in Cypress Fairbanks ISD, was charged with improper relationship with a student, and sexual assault of a child under 17 years of age.

The investigation began after another student reported seeing the 8th grader hitting Long on her behind, and seeing Long sitting on the student's lap.

And in January 2012, Port Arthur police said they caught Emma Jean Hardy, school registrar at Memorial High School, having sex with a 17-year-old student in a vanparked near downtown. She was charged with improper relationship between and educator and a student.

The rising number of cases concerns parent Tiondra Hamilton, whose 10-year-old daughter attends fifth-grade classes in the Houston Independent School District.

"The numbers are beyond alarming," said Hamilton, who owns a wellness company in Houston. "You don't hear too many (cases) about girls with male students. Somehow it's usually female teachers with male students.

"When I send my child to school, it's purely for education and I would hate to have to factor in sexual misconduct as a concern," she said.

Cynthia Pommier, a teacher in Houston ISD, said the cases have changed the way that teachers interact with students. Before, a teacher would hug or pat a student on the back for having good grades. Now, she said, it happens less often.

"Students come to learn and we have to make that environment as conducive for learning and nothing else," Pommier said. "That' s the way we talk as teachers, dress as teachers and the way we engage as teachers. I refrain from patting kids on the back. I don' t want anybody to even get the wrong idea."

In recent years, electronic communication like cell phone, text messaging, e-mail, instant messaging and blogging has provided a private way to contact students during and after school hours.

The Texas Educators' Code of Ethics specifically calls on teachers to refrain from inappropriately communicating with students through the use of social media. School officials are also urge parents to closely monitor any communication via social media directly to their child.

Hamilton, the Houston ISD parent, agrees that more communication between parents and their children is vital.

"I think a parent would be able to pick up on something that may be going on (improper)," she said. "A flag would be if there' s a child who knows too much about the teacher' s personal life. Parents would wonder, 'Why are you even talking about that?' "

The Texas Education Agency has asked for help from the 85th Texas Legislature that meets next year to tighten and regulate social media interactions between teachers and students. Teachers are encouraged to instead have group communication with the entire class regarding homework and after-school activities. Endit