A Texas school teacher, who was named 2019 Secondary Teacher of the Year in May, was arrested for allegedly performing oral sex on a male student. Yeah, teacher of the year, alright...
Former Family and Consumer Science teacher Randi Chaverria resigned from her position at Round Rock High School the day after she was accused of the sexual acts with a student. School officials sent out a letter to parents, informing them that they were notified of the "improper relationship" on November 18.
Principal Matt Groff said in the letter, “Once notified, the teacher, who had elected to take leave before administration received the report, was immediately reported to the District’s Human Resources Department and law enforcement and not permitted to return to campus."
“Safety is the top priority of Round Rock High School and Round Rock ISD,” Groff added. “Ensuring a safe and secure learning environment requires partnership between students, parents, campus and district staff, as well as law enforcement.”
Groff said Chaverria had passed a Texas Department of Public Safety background check before being hired, as well as employment reference checks. Back in May, she won “Secondary Teacher of the Year” from the district. At that point, she had been a teacher for five years working as a Family and Consumer Science teacher for the last two years. According to the release announcing her award, Chaverria also led the “Adopt-A-Child” community service project where high school students adopt elementary school students in need and buy them holiday gifts.
In addition to the allegations, there are texts messages between Chaverria and the student that back up the claims of their relationship.
Round Rock Police say they spoke with the student who explained that during the fall semester “on several occasions” Chaverria called him and had sexual contact with him, including performing oral sex. This student told police that the two had oral sex twice in Chaverria’s classroom.
According to data from the Texas Education Agency (TEA), there has been an increase in relationships between students and teachers over the past several years. Which is a scary thought if you have children. To think that there are adults in positions of leadership and authority over our children who take advantage of their innocence is infuriating.
During the 2018 to 2019 fiscal year, TEA tracked 442 inappropriate relationships, compared to 429 the year prior and 302 relationships in the 2016 to 2017 fiscal year.
Compare that number to 123 relationships TEA recorded between 2008 and 2009.
One explanation for the recent spike in relationships could be because of the "Pass the Trash" state law passed in 2017, which strengthened requirements for principals and superintendents to report inappropriate relationships.
This is completely unacceptable. Just makes me want to homeschool my children even more.