CROSBY, Texas – The Crosby Independent School District revealed Wednesday that a new teacher has resigned amid an investigation into improper Facebook messages with a high school student.
The female first-year Crosby High School teacher quit her job after being suspended when the accusations first surfaced last month.
Superintendent Dr. Keith Moore said that the male student's parents first confronted the teacher after finding inappropriate Facebook messages with their child. The teacher then reported the encounter to school administrators, prompting administrators to suspend her from the job.
Moore said the district found the messages in question online and he said they were "not sexting" but merely inappropriate in nature.
"When we saw those (messages), we were worried that it was the tip of the iceberg," he said. "We don't want this type of thing to happen. We have to protect our kids."
He addressed an email sent by a parent to local newsrooms, accusing the district of covering up the event, saying, "I feel very good about how the district handled it."
Moore said an investigation was launched quickly and a report was filed with the Texas Education Agency about the misconduct, so that other districts may be aware of the teacher's conduct if she tries to get another teaching job.
He said no note was sent home with parents because the facts did not warrant it.
He said there was no sexual solicitation in the Facebook messages, but there is no doubt they were inappropriate.
The teacher told administrators she "didn't mean anything by it."
Harris County Precinct 3 Constables were informed of the incident, but found that no laws were broken and no criminal investigation was conducted, Constable Ken Jones said.
The superintendent said his district's policy on social networking allows staff to interact with kids on the web, but only for professional reasons or showing interest in their extra-curricular activities. He said anything that approaches sexual talk or inappropriate dialogue can result in the teacher being fired and his staff knows this.