A former teacher at Hays Consolidated Independent School District in Texas is at the center of a criminal investigation for allegedly supplying alcohol to students. According to reports from CBS Austin, the teacher, who was employed at Johnson High School and has not been named, resigned as soon as the allegations came to light.
Hays CISD promptly reported the incident to the Texas Education Agency's educator misconduct reporting portal. Leading the investigation, the Buda Police Department has yet to make any arrests. Detailing the district's response, Hays CISD expressed in an email their action to cooperate fully with all investigating authorities and defer to them for further inquiry. Alleged incidents, including an episode during the Christmas break when the former teacher provided students with alcohol, had parents outraged and seeking answers. Investigations surrounding the allegations revealed that the teacher resigned at the start of the inquiry, as per the statement obtained by KXAN.
Kourtnie Bertram, a parent of one of the students purportedly given alcohol by the teacher, conveyed her disbelief over the incidents to KXAN. Bertram recollected an occasion where the teacher asked her son to drive her to Home Depot, and on their way back, stopped to buy liquor. "She asked him to pull into the liquor store where he waited in the car," Bertram said. "She went inside, and she bought some liquor for herself. She also bought a bottle of Crown and Dr. Pepper." In a separate incident, it's claimed the teacher took a small group on a trip for a competition and bought alcohol for the students en route.
Hays CISD stated that families directly involved would hear from school officials or law enforcement regarding the situation. However, Bertram expressed her dissatisfaction by not being reached out to by officials to discuss the incident with her son. "Maybe make personalized phone calls to these parents and say, 'I just want to let you know there's accusations of something that happened.' You don't have to say what and just say, 'Please talk to your child and let us know if you hear of anything concerning,'" according to a KXAN interview with Bertram.
Frustrated parents are now pinning their hopes on accountability and lessons learned. "The best I can hope for," Bertram added, "is that she learns from the situation. She learns boundaries. She learns that if she wants to be an educator and a mentor, that's what she needs to be," Bertram told KXAN. "Not their friend." The communities of Hays County await the outcome of the ongoing investigations and the potential legal repercussions for the former teacher's actions.
