Jignesh Patel sought outside review after his 11-year-old son was taken into custody by Round Rock ISD police in July 2024. Patel filed grievances alleging negligence by an administrator and excessive force by officers, and asked city police, the county sheriff, state officials and federal education and justice officials to investigate, according to the Austin American-Statesman. Patel said the case against his son was later dismissed.
District review left questions open
District officials concluded that the campus response was consistent with district policy, but also agreed to examine internally whether staff had followed required procedures, the Statesman reported. Officials did not answer some questions about how officers treated Patel’s son. Superintendent Hafedh Azaiez said district leaders had addressed the matter with employees involved, without describing what action they took. He also said the assistant principal should have tried to help the girl’s mother before directing her to police, and said, “It’s not something we’re proud of,” according to the newspaper.
At an August 2024 hearing on Patel’s grievances, assistant principal Matthew Wordell said he could not take much disciplinary action because school was out for summer. The Statesman reported that Round Rock ISD police did not make a current official available to discuss the case; the department said it had an interim chief from spring 2026 and that a new chief was expected to start the following month.
The complaints followed a schoolyard incident
The case began on the last day of school in 2024 at Walsh Middle School. The Statesman reported that students gave differing accounts of how a girl was struck: one said a stuffed monkey hit her, another said he hit her with an empty lunchbox, and a third said he tapped her with a finger. The girl told police she had been hit with fists and a cellphone; records cited by the paper noted a bump on her head. She later went to the nurse’s office in tears.
The girl’s mother first approached an assistant principal, who directed her to school police, according to the Statesman’s account of records and interviews. The officers later interviewed the boys by phone, beginning a week into summer vacation. Lead investigator Jacob House concluded that all three had committed misdemeanor assault, records showed. House resigned five months after the incident, citing personal reasons in department records.
Patel said an officer called later that summer and told him to bring his son to school to be arrested. Patel said his son’s lunchbox was made of fabric. The family went to the Round Rock campus on a July afternoon; Patel said his son was handcuffed and the family waited about 90 minutes while he was processed. The Statesman reported that at least two boys were handcuffed and taken to the county juvenile justice center.
Families described different outcomes
Kimmy and Dustin Lueders said their son entered a first-time-offender program to avoid a formal court record. Kimmy Lueders said she had expected an apology and lunch detentions, not an assault charge. The father of the third boy declined to comment, the Statesman reported.
Round Rock ISD later planned a school-based First Offenders program intended to divert students from the court system, according to Community Impact. Participation requires consent from students and parents, and students must complete the program to avoid referral to court.
The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement told Patel it lacked jurisdiction over his complaint and referred him to Round Rock police, the Statesman reported. The commission has said it generally cannot investigate most civil-rights or excessive-force complaints against officers.
