LORENA, Texas — The Lorena Independent School District School Board met for the last meeting before the next school year starts on July 29. It was a meeting that had such a large attendance that it required an overflow room. Also, so many people signed up to speak during the public forum that time was cut down from five minutes to two minutes.
On the school board meeting agenda was an executive session to discuss personnel matters related to the civil lawsuit that the district and April Jewell, principal of Lorena Primary School, face surrounding a sexual abuse case at the school.
The board was in executive session for over three hours. After the executive session ended, the board returned to an open meeting where they unanimously voted to 'ratify the matter discussed' during the executive session. The board didn't elaborate further.
6 News tried to get an interview with the school board or superintendent after the meeting, but were handed a typed-out statement instead.
That statement reads:
"Lorena ISD will not comment on pending litigation. The district intends to move forward with defending the claims and allegations that have been made against it and its employees."
6 News reached out to the School Board President and Media Relations Coordinator for Lorena ISD to see if information about the ratification approved would be made public. We received the following statement:
"The Board is entitled to consult with its counsel and take action on matters relating to the pending litigation without divulging its strategy or otherwise compromising the attorney-client privilege that exists between the Board and its counsel. With respect to your question regarding the District’s 'own motion to appeal,' the District does not possess the same appellate rights at this stage in the proceeding as Ms. Jewell."
According to the Texas Open Meetings Act (TOMA), a certified agenda or recording of a closed meeting is confidential and is not available to the public unless a court orders. There is a section of the TOMA that does not prohibit members of the board from making public statements about the subject matter of the executive session, however, there are some statutes that may limit what can be said in public.
Before the board went into executive session, dozens of community members shared their thoughts on the polarizing situation.
"I applaud you for what you do, I applaud you for your hard work," one meeting attendee said. "I know this is a very difficult time to maneuver and there is a lot of things that are going on and I think when it's all said and done we will see that support was well placed."
"[Joe Kucera] needs to be fired, and April Jewell needs to be fired," said one attendee who said her daughter was a victim in the sexual abuse case at Lorena Primary School. "This whole committee needs to change. If it was your kid, Jewell's kid.... oh, this 'team Jewell'... there's a special place in hell for you guys."
Tensions are high for some as the school board has taken no action since the civil lawsuit has been filed alleging five counts of wrongdoing by Jewell and LISD. It was filed by the parents of a pre-k student who was sexually abused at the school.
Those who work at Lorena Primary School stand their ground on what's been said about the campus and leadership.
"As an employee, we have to take hours upon hours of online and in-person training on how to make our classrooms a safe and secure place for all of our children," said a woman who works at Lorena Primary School. "I want to thank our administration for the outpour of support at each and every campus, most importantly April Jewell."
Meanwhile, there is a group of parents and community members who question sending their students to Lorena Primary School for the upcoming school year if Jewell is still an administrator. They say time is of the essence and action needs to be taken while litigation is pending.
"I recognize the statement from Lorena ISD, which places the verdict of innocent or guilty with our justices... I agree with you," said one of the attendees of the meeting. "However, I do not agree with you allowing administrators to continue in their capacity while there's an active lawsuit against them, especially when they were denied the motion to dismiss by a federal judge. What parents in the community do not understand is why the principal and the superintendent have not been placed on administrative leave when a known crime has occurred. I beg the school board to create policy to determine what circumstances would require administrative leave."
The lawsuit is currently held up in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.
More from 6 News: