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Parents and former staff tell SCUC ISD board they were denied records, accuse former teacher of assault
Summary
At the Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD board meeting, multiple public commenters alleged a former teacher sexually assaulted a student, said the district withheld personnel records, and described injuries and years of difficulty following on-campus incidents. The board did not take public action during the meeting.
The Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City Independent School District Board of Trustees on Thursday heard multiple public comments alleging student sexual assault and criticizing the district's handling of personnel records and staff injuries.
In a lengthy public statement, resident Angela Laboratory said her 14-year-old daughter was sexually assaulted in 2021 by a Clemens- and Steele-area teacher she identified as David Rios and that Rios is "currently out on bond awaiting trial." Laboratory told trustees she requested Rios' personnel records from the district in 2022 and did not receive them, and said the district's attorney copied her on a letter to the Texas attorney general asking whether the district could withhold the records because Rios was under investigation. Laboratory said other previous employers had provided records she sought but that the district had not. "The least that you guys can do is give me the records on this person," she told the board.
Laboratory also said she had obtained reprimands and other records from a former employer, which she said raised concerns about prior behavior and about the district's reference checks during hiring. "If someone at Clemens doesn't have documentation of checking his references from Highlands High School, they should be fired," she said, attributing the assertion to her review of employment documents.
Another speaker, Joel Smith, read a list of names he said represented educators who had harmed students, and criticized the district's priorities and discipline decisions. Smith told trustees, "Most of these were listed right here in y'all's district," and argued the system prioritized money and protected staff over students.
A third commenter who identified himself as Chris Dubkowski described suffering a traumatic brain injury while working in the district and said he had received no outreach or support from the district in the two-and-a-half years since the injury. "I came in and filled in for two [people]. One that was taken out by a student and one that took a student out, ended up getting arrested. He's on your freaking list. But you abandoned me," he told the board.
The board did not respond to the allegations with immediate public action during the meeting. Trustees acknowledged the comments and proceeded with the agenda, which included an extended closed-session portion earlier in the evening and several personnel items voted on after the board returned to public session.
Copies of public comments and the full videotaped meeting are part of the public record; speakers at the meeting urged the board to release personnel records and to explain hiring and vetting practices. Trustees did not announce any new record releases or other procedural changes during the meeting.
The board later voted on several personnel actions and other district business in public session; those outcomes are recorded separately in the board's meeting minutes and in a separate summary of votes taken at the meeting.
