Federal prosecutors set to announce settlement with Dallas ISD as part of Project Safe Schools
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas is set to announce details about a settlement with Dallas ISD late Tuesday morning.
A press conference about the settlement is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. in Dallas. While details about the settlement were not shared in advance, the office said it was tied to Project Safe Schools.
What is Project Safe Schools?
Project Safe Schools is a new initiative announced in August by U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould. It was launched after a series of high-profile child sex abuse allegations involving North Texas educators.
During a press conference announcing the initiative, Raybould said "the problem is clear and urgent", saying educator misconduct was happening too often.
"Some districts have even engaged in what is referred to as 'passing the trash', quietly moving educators with known misconduct issues to new campuses or new districts, where they hurt other children," he said. "That practice puts children at risk, it violates federal grant conditions, and it ends today."
The initiative is a partnership involving the Texas Education Agency and local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies. Raybould said the TEA has opened more than 9,700 educator misconduct investigations in the last two years, leading to more than 590 disciplinary actions and the placement of more than 480 educators on a registry to prevent their hire elsewhere.
Levi Fuller, the TEA's first inspector general for educator misconduct, previously told CBS News Texas that the goal is to move investigations more quickly and keep educators accused of serious misconduct out of classrooms while cases are reviewed.
"We're expanding our capability," Fuller said.
Fuller is nearly six months into the new position, created as Texas faces growing scrutiny over how school districts handle allegations involving teachers, coaches, and other school employees.
The TEA has received more than 16,000 educator misconduct reports this year, Fuller said. About 9,000 investigations are currently active.
Under changes implemented by his office, about 7,100 of those cases can now go through a temporary suspension process, which Fuller said has helped speed up investigations.
More details about the TEA's efforts and how to report educator misconduct, abuse, or neglect can be found online.
Have North Texas educators been recently arrested?
Yes. The August announcement for Project Safe Schools happened weeks after Paul Campbell, a longtime Plano ISD elementary school teacher, was arrested on accusations that he sexually abused second-grade girls in his class as recently as the 2025-26 school year.
Another former teacher and coach, Caleb Elliott, faces numerous federal and state charges for allegedly taking secret recordings of dozens of middle school boys inside a Celina ISD locker room.
Other recent cases alleging sexual misconduct in schools have involved a McKinney ISD athletic trainer, a teacher at a Little Elm charter school, and a Crowley ISD high school teacher.