LORENA, Texas — Parents of students at Lorena ISD met with Texas Senator Brian Birdwell on Aug. 5 in hopes he would author a new bill amidst an ongoing lawsuit involving a sexual assault case at Lorena Primary School.
The parents are asking Birdwell to author a bill that could add an exception to the Texas Tort Claims Act (TTCA), which allows immunity for public school employees. The parents are hoping to add the exception to the Act, saying they believe "there should be no immunity claims for cases of child sexual abuse at school."
One of the parents who attended the meeting was Allison Kelly.
"I think we left Senator Birdwell with a lot of things to think about, a lot of people that he is looking forward to having more conversations with and hopefully finding some answers and finding ways that we can continue to keep our Texas students safe in their schools," Kelly explained. "That is really encouraging."
Kelly and others who attended the in-person meeting with Birdwell didn't go into specifics about what was discussed. However, Kelly explained how they discussed how making exceptions to the act could be beneficial.
"It's not that you want a teacher to go to school every day and be afraid that they're going to be sued for anything," Kelly said. "You don't want them to feel like they're just vulnerable for something that's out of their control. It's more so to safeguard the things that are within their control, such as a suspicion of abuse or a report of abuse and then making sure that they're doing the steps that would keep that kid safe or out of the abuse. A waiver would then do that, it would just limit that qualified immunity to be used for what it's probably intended for."
The lawsuit was filed against Lorena ISD and principal of Lorena Primary School, April Jewell, by the parents of a pre-k student who was sexually abused by a long-term substitute at the school.
The substitute, Nicolas Scott Crenshaw, was convicted and sentenced for charges related to sexual abuse and indecency against two students at Lorena Primary School between 2020 and 2021.
The parents of one of the children filed a lawsuit against Jewell and the district, claiming they failed to investigate and report Crenshaw's acts despite multiple staff members of the school reporting their concerns.
Motions by Jewell and the school to dismiss the lawsuit were denied by a judge in June. Jewell has reportedly filed an appeal in a Waco federal court.
Birdwell's Office sent 6 News a statement saying, in part:
"Senator Birdwell regularly meets with constituents, and it has been a policy that these private constituent meetings are not public media events. This particular meeting is so that the Senator can hear directly from local parents who have serious concerns on the Lorena ISD situation and he looks forward to personally meeting with them."
On Tuesday, Birdwell's office released the following statement following our report:
“As a parent, grandparent, and your state senator, I am committed to doing everything possible to promote the safety and protection of our children. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to have a frank, thoughtful, and cordial discussion with local parents on a serious matter that has impacted their community and understandably shaken their confidence in the process which they believe failed them. Listening to these parents was the first step in a series of conversations and meetings to see what possible legislative courses of actions might be appropriate. I appreciate them reaching out and look forward to talking to them again in the months ahead leading up to the next legislative session.”
As for what is next for the Lorena ISD community members who are working to keep this situation in the spotlight, there could be more meetings with elected officials.
"There were mentions of potentially going to other state and maybe federal representatives to continue the conversations and so we will happily follow Senator Birdwell's guidance on that," Kelly added.
The Texas Education Agency said it opened an investigation into Jewell on June 7, 2024.
On July 29, 2024, the Lorena ISD School Board met to discuss matters surrounding the lawsuit. After hearing from many community members on both sides of the issue, the Board went into a closed executive session to discuss "personnel matters" related to the lawsuit.
The Board remained in executive session for over three hours, after which they stated they had voted to "ratify the matter discussed" in the executive session. The board did not elaborate any further on what matter was discussed or what action will be taken.
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