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Board adopts hearing examiner's recommendation to terminate La Joya ISD teacher after video of student shown to peers
Summary
The La Joya ISD board voted to adopt an independent hearing examiner's recommendation that good cause exists to terminate Pedro Sorita Jr.'s contract after a teacher-recorded video of a student struggling with a math problem was shown to other students; the board acted following oral arguments and closed-session counsel.
La Joya ISD's board of managers voted April 8 to adopt an independent hearing examiner's findings that good cause exists to terminate the contract of Pedro Sorita Jr., a teacher whose conduct the examiner concluded violated district policy and state law.
The action followed oral arguments during a public hearing. Selena Vincent, counsel for the district, told the board the hearing record includes a short video recorded by the teacher of a student attempting a basic math problem; the examiner found the teacher recorded the student without parental approval, showed the clip to an AP class the next day and said, "Don't be like this student," and later told the student she would be "TikTok famous," provoking distress and days of absence by the student. Vincent cited the Texas Education Code requirement to obtain parental consent before recording students and the district's employee handbook and Code of Ethics for educators, which the hearing examiner relied on in recommending termination.
The teacher's attorney responded that the clip was recorded to document classroom difficulty and initially shown to a colleague; counsel acknowledged it was an error to display it to another class and pointed to the teacher's nearly 20 years of service and positive prior evaluations. Counsel said the teacher had tendered a resignation that the district had refused to accept and urged the board to consider progressive discipline rather than termination.
After both parties spoke and the board took no clarifying questions from members, the board met in closed session to consult with counsel and then returned to open session. A motion to adopt the hearing examiner's findings and conclusions carried by voice vote; the board did not record individual roll-call votes in the public transcript.
The hearing record includes the examiner's written findings and exhibits presented during evidentiary hearings that the board reviewed before voting. District counsel emphasized the examiner's determinations that the recording was made without parental consent, that the teacher's actions were not respectful of the student and that the conduct adversely affected the student's mental health as reflected in the record.
The board's adoption of the recommendation is a formal personnel action. The transcript does not record any subsequent disciplinary steps beyond the motion to adopt the examiner's recommendation.
