(Texas Scorecard) – Parents in Lorena Independent School District are asking the state agency that oversees educator certification to suspend two administrators who failed to protect pre-K students from a teacher’s sexual abuse.
Lorena ISD’s superintendent and school board trustees have denied multiple requests from the community to hold Lorena Primary School Principal April Jewell accountable for allegedly “looking the other way” while a teacher under her supervision, Nicolas Crenshaw, sexually abused girls in his pre-K classroom during the 2020-21 school year.
On Friday, three Lorena parents traveled to Austin to seek help from the Texas Education Agency’s State Board for Educator Certification—which makes final decisions on disciplinary actions in misconduct cases against certified educators.
The three represent a larger group of Lorena ISD families who want administrators held responsible for the sex abuse scandal. While Crenshaw went to prison, Jewell kept her job.
“As parents, we should be able to trust the adults overseeing our children,” said Lorena ISD mom Rachel Eason during the public comment portion of Friday’s quarterly SBEC meeting. “We should know that those adults aren’t going to turn their backs on possible abuse and fail to even ask the questions to determine if the authorities should be called.”
More than 800 Lorena residents have signed a petition calling for Jewell to resign. Many have also asked the school board to place Jewell and Superintendent Joe Kucera on administrative leave until accusations against the principal and district are resolved.
The parents of one of Crenshaw’s victims—identified in court documents as Jane Doe to protect her privacy—filed a federal civil lawsuit last year alleging Jewell ignored multiple reports about Crenshaw’s inappropriate behavior with their then 5-year-old daughter and other female students.
“One parent states that she went to Jewell to complain about this man more than six months before he was arrested,” Eason explained to SBEC members.
Yet the principal didn’t fire him. She didn’t report him to the authorities. Instead, she split the class. She removed one of the people who had complained about this inappropriate behavior. She gave the substitute unsupervised access to the child that he was reportedly obsessed with.
“Our current school board has continuously ignored pleadings from parents to remove April Jewell from the primary school,” Eason added. “I sincerely hope that you can help us ensure that this school is run by someone who is not currently facing a federal lawsuit.”
Eason noted that two federal judges have rejected Jewell’s claim of qualified immunity in the case. Lorena parents are working with the advocacy group Texas Education 911 and state lawmakers on proposed legislation to remove school administrators’ immunity from prosecution in civil lawsuits involving sexual abuse of students.
Lorena ISD dad Lane Wakefield brought a handout to Friday’s meeting that listed sections of the Texas Educators’ Code of Ethics and Lorena ISD’s Student Handbook along with alleged violations by Jewell and Kucera.
“When the time comes for you to decide, here are uncontested facts that can disqualify the certificates of the principal and superintendent,” Wakefield said.
Wakefield told SBEC members that Jewell disregarded “warning signs of sexual abuse” detailed in the district handbook and that Jewell and Kucera both violated the ethical standard of good moral character.
As a primary school principal, what is ethical is to take special care to ensure the safety of the most vulnerable, such as those 4- and 5-year-olds who can be tricked into thinking playing with an adult’s penis is just another game at school, as was documented by authorities in this case. Not taking extra care for these children lacks moral character. The superintendent violated this as well by not taking action.
Wakefield was recently rejected for a seat on the city of Lorena’s economic development board because he publicly criticized how the school district handled the sex abuse scandal.
Charity Cervantez, a mother of two students formerly enrolled in Lorena ISD, cited a “persistent pattern” of concerning behaviors within the district.
“I’m here today to urge the Texas Education Agency to launch a thorough investigation into the actions—or lack thereof—of Deputy Superintendent Rusty Grimm, Superintendent Joe Kucera, and the Lorena ISD school board. It is not enough to simply focus on Principal Jewell,” Cervantez told SBEC members.
“The pattern of neglect and inaction spans multiple levels of the administration and must be addressed comprehensively to ensure the safety and well-being of all students,” she explained.
As a parent, I constantly wish I could have done more to protect my children and others in the district. It’s incredibly frustrating to feel as though we are spinning our wheels with no clear path for effective action. Parents should have a straightforward, reliable way to address such serious issues without feeling helpless against the system throughout this ordeal.
“I must say, the teachers at Lorena ISD have always been kind and caring, even supportive of our fight against the school’s administration,” she added. “Although my children no longer attend Lorena ISD, I cannot, in good conscience, remain silent while other children are left vulnerable.”
“I implore you to take immediate and decisive action to hold these administrators accountable and protect the students of Lorena ISD from further harm,” Cervantez concluded.
SBEC records show Jewell’s educator certification is under review by the TEA, and parents have reportedly filed complaints against Kucera.
If the agency finds Jewell or Kucera guilty of misconduct, the SBEC can impose a variety of disciplinary actions, including temporarily suspending their educator certificates.
“There were only four parents from around the state to testify as SBEC was trying to define grooming guidelines for educators, and three were from Lorena. That makes me proud to live in Lorena ISD,” Wakefield told Texas Scorecard.
“There are so many people who want to put families first, and we need to represent them in Austin,” he said. “What else can be a better use of time than making the effort to protect children from predators who come into the schools?”
In addition to pursuing official action to protect students’ safety, Lorena parents are building community support for Jane Doe and her family through social media and “Justice for Jane” events held at local businesses.
An attorney representing Jane issued a statement to local media outlet KWTX, expressing the family’s “gratitude for the community’s outpouring of support for Jane and commitment to justice and safety for all children. They hear what you are saying and see what you are doing.”
The next Lorena ISD school board meeting is scheduled for July 29.