A faculty member at Highland Park Middle School who was accused of possessing pornography and/or obscene material resigned on February 22.
“Last week a paraprofessional was found with an inappropriate image at MIS/HPMS. When this was addressed, the employee immediately resigned,” Highland Park ISD said in a written statement, according to People Newspapers. “The District promptly notified the appropriate authorities as we never condone unacceptable behavior in our schools.”
The University Park Police Department told People Newspapers that the ongoing investigation suggests a juvenile was involved in some way.
This has not been the only time that Highland Park ISD has had a controversy regarding misconduct by its employees in recent years. In September 2022, a Highland Park ISD teacher resigned due to an alleged sexualized social media account that the teacher owned, as The Dallas Express previously reported. A school parent demanded that the teacher be removed from the school and that officials investigate whether “any crimes against children had been committed.”
In the wake of that scandal, the Highland Park ISD chief of staff and director of communications abruptly resigned, and on October 11, 2022, the district’s superintendent announced his resignation. Openrecords.org spokesperson Russell Fish suggested the resignations may have been related to the backlash from the incident.
Like Highland Park ISD, neighboring Dallas ISD has also had its share of faculty and staff face charges of misconduct. Last year, a Dallas high school chemistry teacher was accused of inappropriately texting and touching a 14-year-old student. According to Fox 4 KDFW, the teacher asked “if he could spoil her” and then went on to say that he “wanted to have kids with her.”
Dallas ISD heightened its background check protocols last year after a number of incidents involving employee misconduct, however, a district spokesperson insisted the district was being proactive rather than reacting to the incidents, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Both Dallas ISD and Highland ISD are also engaged in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, which have become pervasive across many institutions, including public education.
Kim Banuelos, for instance, who used to work for Mesquite ISD, was approved by Highland Park ISD trustees in 2023 to head up University Park Elementary School. Banuelos has previously promoted DEI and talked about her experience with the initiatives on a local podcast show.