A former employee of Keller ISD was arrested earlier this month on two felony charges related to an alleged inappropriate relationship with a student in 2017.
Saginaw resident Keli Borish, 34, worked on several campuses across the district as a paraprofessional from 2016 to May 2023. She transitioned to the role of a student-teacher at Trinity Meadows Intermediate School this September.
However, one of the students Borish encountered while working as a paraprofessional in 2017 has since made allegations against her. Borish now faces charges including having an improper relationship with a student and indecency with a child with sexual contact.
Officials from Keller ISD wrote a letter to parents to inform them about the revelation but did not name the school attended by the alleged victim. They reassured parents that staff undergo “thorough background checks prior to being hired and are regularly evaluated throughout their employment,” according to Fox 4 KDFW.
Paraprofessionals are not certified by the state but often serve a support function as instructional aides or teacher assistants. They might be called on to work one-on-one with a given student, especially if he or she is in special education.
Amid a growing teacher shortage, many districts have struggled to recruit and retain seasoned, high-quality educators. While schools in all 50 states reported teacher shortages in at least one subject area last year, Texas had deficits in special education, computer science, bilingual education, and career and technical education in the 2023-2024 school year, according to a U.S. Department of Education report.
Meanwhile, the education sector is further plagued by educators accused of abusing students.
For instance, a long-term substitute teacher with Arlington ISD was arrested last month on several charges stemming from allegations of serious misconduct with students, as covered in The Dallas Express. These included three counts of improper relationship between student and educator and two counts of indecency with a child involving sexual contact.
Borish was booked in Tarrant County Jail on October 10 but no longer appeared as an inmate in online records as of October 18.
The investigation by the Fort Worth Police Department is still ongoing, and anyone with information about the case is asked to come forward.
“While we do not have any additional information at this time, we will continue cooperating with the authorities in any way that we can,” a statement from Keller ISD received by NBC 5 DFW read.
“The distinctions between appropriate and inappropriate conduct are clearly established for all Keller ISD employees, and we will continue to hold all of our employees to the high standards we all expect from an educational institution.”