LISD hiring process revisited two years after improper student-educator relationships

During the 2011-2012 school year the Lockhart Independent School District and school board experienced a year unlike most after Lockhart High School faced not only one, but two incidences of improper relationships between a teacher and student.

In November 2011, the Lockhart Police Department arrested Thomas Christopher Knox, 28 at the time, after learning of his improper relationship with a 16-year-old female student. Knox posted bail the same day of his arrest and would later be charged with sexual assault of a minor in July of 2012, in which he posted bail as well. Months later after Knox’s initial arrest in May of 2012, Lockhart High School’s librarian Tricia Porter was also arrested after administrators had suspicions of her student-educator relationship with a 18-year-old male student.

According to the Texas Penal Code, an improper relationship between an educator and student is a second-degree felony. The penal code states the teacher commits a felony if he or she “engages in sexual contact, sexual intercourse, or deviate sexual intercourse with a person who is enrolled in a public or private primary or secondary school at which the employee works.”

Almost two years after the improper relationships occurred, LISD Assistant Superintendent Larry Ramirez said he still trusts their hiring process despite of the fact the two incidences took place in the same year.  

“I’m not sure how any school can prevent something like this from happening,” said Ramirez. “But the idea is to make sure this never happens again, and we do the very best we can. I think our process is solid, but people just do stupid things.”

Although not much has changed in the hiring process, Ramirez said he and the rest of the hiring staff have specifically emphasized talking to the interviewee’s last boss or principal as being one of the most critical parts of the process.

“I don’t want to talk to their supervisors down the road,” said Ramirez. “We talk to the most immediate supervisor. There have been people in the past that haven’t wanted me to talk to their most recent boss, and they didn’t get hired.”

“Even if it’s a custodial position, we must make contact with whoever was that person’s last supervisor,” said Monica Guillory, principal of Lockhart High School. “I personally at the high school always contact at least three sources of information. The district only requires two, but I feel a little safer calling three.”

Guillory said LISD requires all teachers to be fingerprinted and complete a nationwide background along with the statewide search as well. Contact logs that students must sign for tutorials have also been implemented and stressed more since the improper student-educator incidences.

“I don’t want students going in teacher’s rooms for tutorials without there being a record of it,” said Guillory. “This includes after school, before school, during lunch and conference periods.”

Guillory said since the incidences, the high school staff are better educated and informed of having any kind of contact with students that could be deemed inappropriate. The staff go through two extensive rounds of human resource training at the beginning of the year when they are hired and again before the school year starts, she said.

“Once they are hired they are trained and then again, not just the new staff but also the returning staff,” said Guillory. “We remind them to always be professional and to not make comments or remarks that could be taken out of context or contact with them on social media.”

Frances Winkler, a parent in the community of Lockhart whose son now attends a charter school in Austin, said she was shocked when she learned of the two student-educator incidences, but she doesn’t blame the school for the improper relationships.

“It’s the responsibility of the school to do the background checks and training but not their fault if a teacher crosses the line,” said Winkler. “It doesn’t make sense, but it happens and you deal with it. Maybe there should be a psychological test teachers have to take as well.”

“I’m overly cautious because I recognize these are people’s children that we have everyday, and it is our responsibility to protect them,” said Guillory. “While we want to trust our staff, our biggest loyalty is to the parents of the students who come to our school everyday.”