A substitute teacher at a Northside Independent School District middle school has been suspended from all district assignments after a student accused the teacher of threatening to call immigration officials and police on a misbehaving class. The alleged incident happened during a fourth period class at Rayburn Middle School last Tuesday, October 6, and campus administrators pulled the substitute from the room before the day was out.
According to KSAT, a student reported that the substitute allegedly threatened to make the calls because the class was misbehaving. School administrators removed the substitute from the class while they looked into the allegation, the station reported. Northside ISD spokesperson Barry Perez told KSAT the district is investigating the claim, though the investigation has not yet concluded.
A report from Univision identified the student who raised the alarm as 12 years old. That outlet also reported that the substitute was removed immediately from the school and that their status as a substitute teacher has remained suspended while the investigation continues.
Family Says a Child Could Be Hurt by the Allegation
Ruby Narro, who said she learned about the alleged comments from her sister, told KENS 5 that the alleged threat could harm the child involved. A parent who was not named in that report said students should feel safe at school. The station's report also included comment from a woman identified as Gloria, who said she supports ICE's mission and recalled attending President Trump's campaign rally in San Antonio this month, where she said people in the country illegally should go home — but Gloria still called the substitute's alleged comments ridiculous and questioned how the substitute was hired in the first place.
Northside ISD has said the substitute had no previous complaints since being hired in August 2024, and the district has not been able to confirm whether the substitute is a man or a woman. The district said the substitute has been suspended from all district assignments while the investigation into the incident proceeds.
How Northside ISD Vets and Trains Its Substitutes
Northside ISD's own hiring materials describe the process substitutes go through before stepping into a classroom. The district says background checks are completed for all applicants who may require fingerprinting, according to Northside ISD. New substitutes are also required to complete a pre-service orientation covering their roles, responsibilities and district policies, per the district's substitute guidance.
Once in a classroom, substitutes are expected to follow the regular teacher's lesson plans and maintain discipline, the district says, and they carry the full responsibility and authority of the regular teacher while covering a class. Those same materials make no mention of contacting immigration authorities or law enforcement as a disciplinary tool.
A Similar Case Surfaced in Fort Worth Last Year
The Rayburn Middle School allegation echoes a case roughly 270 miles away in January 2025, when Fort Worth ISD said it was investigating a social media post allegedly written by one of its substitute teachers inviting ICE to visit Northside High School because some students did not speak English, according to the San Antonio Express-News. The post was allegedly written in response to an ICE message on X. Fort Worth ISD barred the substitute from campus during that investigation and said at the time it was conducting a thorough review and would take appropriate action.
Northside ISD has not said how long its investigation into the Rayburn Middle School allegation will take or what discipline, if any, the substitute could face. The district says it is continuing to look into the student's report.
