LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – Gov. Greg Abbott visited Lubbock on Tuesday, the day before the start of the school year for many students, to announce a new initiative targeting educators who engage in inappropriate relationships with students.
Abbott said there were more than 1,600 allegations of inappropriate relationships between educators and students in Texas last year — nearly triple the number from the year prior.
“Well, with literally thousands of violations in just the past two years, clearly the message has not been received to stop assaulting students in our schools,” Abbott said.
Proposed changes to state law
Abbott said state legislators have made recent changes to laws punishing teachers who enter inappropriate relationships with students, but said those changes have not gone far enough.
“In the past, some teachers have had sex with students and got only probation. Not anymore in Texas,” Abbott said.
He is pushing for new laws that would:
- Require offenders to serve a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison
- Prohibit community supervision and deferred adjudication in place of jail time
- Ban early parole
- Mandate sex offender registration for convicted offenders
Currently, crimes such as inappropriate relationship with a student and online solicitation of a minor can carry sentences of two to 20 years.
Lubbock cited as model for prosecution
Abbott praised Lubbock prosecutors and courts for their approach to sentencing, including a recent case that resulted in a 10-year prison sentence.
“What Lubbock and the prosecutors were able to achieve here should be the baseline standard for law in the state of Texas. And every prosecutor in the state must get a mandatory minimum of 10 years behind bars for any criminal who assaults a student at school,” Abbott said.
Lubbock County District Attorney Sunshine Stanek said schools must be safe environments for students.
“We do not expect that they will experience abuse at the hands of an educator that we leave them with. That is why these laws must be strong and send a message. There must be a heavy hammer for us to throw down when our children are violated in this community and across the state of Texas,” Stanek said.
Survivor speaks at roundtable
Abbott said survivor Kyree’a Flores, who spoke at a roundtable conversation, highlighted the need to better identify warning signs and make children feel more comfortable reporting them.
“I can’t change what happened to me, and for a long time I wished I could. But I’ve learned that healing doesn’t mean pretending the pain never happens. It means deciding what you’re going to do with it,” she said. “What happened to me should have never happened, but if my story can help another child be seen sooner or help recognize the warning signs, then I’m going to use my voice to do that. I can’t go back and protect the little girl I was then, but maybe what we’re doing today can protect the next one.”
Legislative and school accountability
Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows, who represents Lubbock, said he plans to work with school administrators to improve staff training.
“We hear you. We see you. This should not have happened, and we must do better,” Burrows said.
On the question of school accountability for hiring individuals with a history of allegations or who later commit these crimes, Abbott said he intends to ensure accountability at all levels of government. He said if sovereign immunity must be put on the table, the state will take the steps necessary to keep children safe.
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