Another North Texas educator has been arrested on charges of having an improper sexual relationship with a student.
Police arrested Alisha Christine Feuerbacher, 39, on Thursday concerning an alleged offense from January 1 of this year. The specifics of the accusation are currently unclear.
Online records suggest Feuerbacher has been employed by Fusion Academy private school since 2022, the Texas Scorecard reported.
Maintaining an improper relationship with a student while working as an educator is a distinct crime in Texas and is categorized as a second-degree felony.
“An employee of a public or private primary or secondary school commits an offense if the employee … engages in sexual contact, sexual intercourse, or deviate sexual intercourse with a person who is enrolled in a public or private primary or secondary school at which the employee works,” according to Texas law.
Feuerbacher, a resident of McKinney, was taken to Collin County Jail by local authorities and booked; however, she was released on a $35,000 bond the same day.
Before working at the private school, Feuerbacher was apparently employed by four different North Texas school districts — Richardson, Frisco, Prosper, and Lovejoy, according to the Texas Scorecard.
She was a special education aide at Lovejoy High School in Lucas, the district’s superintendent confirmed, and her online employment history suggests she held the same position in Richardson and Frisco ISDs. In Prosper, Feuerbacher’s reported job history lists her as a “Behavior Transition Teacher” at Folsom Elementary School.
In a letter to parents, Lovejoy ISD Superintendent Katie Kordel distanced her district from the alleged incident.
“Alisha Feuerbacher (Barta) was employed at Lovejoy High School between the dates of 08/09/2021 and 05/28/2022 … The date of the alleged offense is listed as 01/01/2023 and the date of the arrest is 06/22/2023. To our knowledge, the alleged offense does not involve Lovejoy ISD,” Kordel wrote.
No details regarding the allegations against Feuerbacher were provided.
Lovejoy ISD drew scrutiny last year when the district reportedly allowed one of its high school teachers to resign after it was purportedly discovered he was sending sexually suggestive messages to a male student. While he was not terminated, his alleged misconduct was reported to state authorities.
“Mr. Cooper’s resignation will be documented as ‘in lieu of termination’ and we are reporting this to the State Board for Educator Certification as well as any other relevant agencies as required by law,” Kordel said in June of 2022, according to the Texas Scorecard.
Lovejoy is not the only school district to find out that current or former employees have been accused of criminally improper behavior.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, a number of North Texas educators have been arrested for allegedly engaging in inappropriate sexual relationships with students.
Dallas ISD, for instance, saw three of its employees arrested for alleged crimes committed against minors in recent months — two for having an improper relationship with a student and one for physical assault.
The troubled district, Texas’ second-biggest school system, has garnered a reputation for mismanagement and has struggled academically for years.