Celina ISD preparing to release report on investigation into former teacher Caleb Elliott, board president says
Celina residents may soon get more of the answers they have been demanding about a sexual abuse scandal rocking the community and its school district.
After meeting for hours in a closed session Monday night into Tuesday morning, Celina ISD's board is preparing to release the results of an independent investigation into former teacher and coach Caleb Elliott. Board president Jeff Gravley said they aim to release the report by the end of the week.
Elliott was a teacher and football coach at Moore Middle School and is facing state and federal charges for allegedly photographing and recording boys in the locker room while they were changing. Celina police say they have identified 39 victims.
Celina ISD also faces four civil lawsuits over Elliott's alleged abuse, which claim the district ignored complaints about Elliott's behavior for years until he was arrested in October.
Monday night's closed-door meeting followed a public comment period where parents expressed their frustrations and anger with district leadership over how they have handled the case.
In a letter sent to Celina ISD families on Tuesday morning, Gravley said the board "received an extremely large amount of information with the investigative report," and will meet again on Tuesday, Jan. 20, to continue reviewing it. Gravley said the district is "in the process of preparing the report to disclose as much of the report as possible to provide transparency to the community regarding the findings." However, he noted that state laws will require redactions, including certain information about district employees.
Celina ISD hired an outside firm to conduct an investigation in October following Elliott's first arrest. The scandal is also being investigated by local, state and federal law enforcement as well as the Texas Education Agency.
Attorneys representing the victims in the civil lawsuits are also conducting their own investigations.
In previous statements, some of the plaintiff attorneys have raised doubts about whether Celina ISD's investigation would be truly independent and whether the district would be fully transparent with its findings. CBS News Texas has reached out to them for comment on the district's announcement.