LORENA, Texas — Since the civil lawsuit alleging wrongdoing by Lorena Independent School District and Lorena Primary School Principal April Jewell was filed, the district has said it will not comment.
However, when State Board of Education Member Evelyn Brooks asked for insight about the handling of the sexual abuse case at the center of the lawsuit, the district responded.
District Superintendent Joe Kucera shared a 21-page letter that includes a timeline, a section where the district intends to separate claims from facts and details on how the district reportedly did training and took other steps to ensure safety for students.
The letter shows that the district's timeline starts in May of 2021, although the lawsuit the district faces alleges reports of concerning behavior by the now-convicted substitute teacher started in October of 2020.
The district said in the letter that it arranged pre-k classrooms to ensure clear line of sight of students at all times and that each classroom would have a teacher and educational aid.
The letter also reads that it's important to the district to share truth over what it says are "unsupported false claims" including: the district ignored multiple reports of sexual misconduct by the sub, no real investigations occurring with the district sweeping it under the rug and refusing a Title IX investigation.
Kucera wrote that no reports about the sub were ignored and several investigations did occur that showed no abuse. He also wrote that a Title IX investigation wasn't warranted because no conduct was found or the sub was no longer employed.
Brooks told 6 News she intends to be at the next Lorena ISD school board meeting, which is set for Aug. 26.
The entire letter can be read at this link.
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