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On May 1, a Duncanville High School educator was arrested and charged with voyeurism after his partner reported finding inappropriate content on his cell phone to district administrators.
The teacher, Garrett Michael Davis, was accused of secretly filming female students and exchanging explicit text messages with at least one pupil. According to an arrest warrant affidavit obtained by WFAA, he admitted to having around 10 videos of female students that were taken without consent. Police were also provided evidence of Davis discussing his desire to have sex with a female student with a coworker.
It was only the latest headline in what has become a revolving door of educators accused of misconduct, but the problem isn’t North Texas’ alone.
According to data published by the Texas Education Agency, investigations into educators accused of fostering inappropriate relationships with students have increased by more than 150% in the last year. In fiscal year 2025, 579 Texas teachers were investigated for allegations that include romantic or sexual relationships, grooming or failure to maintain personal boundaries.
So far in fiscal year 2026, TEA has opened 1,465 of the same type of investigation.
The data, first reported by Houston’s KPRC-TV, is part of TEA’s new educator misconduct dashboard, which was mandated by the Texas Legislature last year. It shows that while inappropriate relationship investigations made up 11% of all investigations into educators last year, they now account for 15%.
There is also an increasing number of allegations of overt sexual abuse, including sexual assault and lewd acts. In 2025, 303 investigations were launched. This year, there have been 441. Claims of physical abuse have also grown, from 2,155 investigations in 2025 to 5,173 this year.
Cracking down on misconduct
Sexual misconduct accusations have affected the Denton, McKinney, Little Elm and Carrollton school districts since the start of the year. Last fall, felony sexual abuse charges were filed against educators from Mansfield, Wylie and Celina ISDs.
Perhaps the most explosive allegation was leveled against a Celina middle school coach named William Caleb Elliott, whose father was the town’s state championship-winning high school football coach. Elliott was accused of secretly filming in a student locker room and sharing the images online. Multiple lawsuits have been filed against Elliott and the school district.
The lawsuits were a quick application of a new law passed by the state legislature last summer. House Bill 4623, which was authored by North Texas Republican Rep. Mitch Little, waives the immunity that has historically protected school districts from civil liability in cases involving educators and minors.
The law now allows school districts to be sued for gross negligence, recklessness or intentional misconduct in hiring, supervising or employing an educator accused of abuse.
“I had hoped it would be a deterrent, or an encouragement to school districts to root out sexual abuse in our public school system,” Little told reporters last fall during a press conference about the Celina case. “I did not in my wildest dreams imagine we would need to apply it immediately in a district so close to home.”
Another law, Senate Bill 571, redefined the types of misconduct Texas schools are required to report and introduced penalties for districts that fail to flag certain behaviors. The law’s key change was adding “an improper relationship between an educator and a student” to the state’s definition of abuse, which allows for cases of grooming or violations of personal boundaries to be investigated. District superintendents could face felony charges if they fail to report evidence of misconduct or abuse within 48 hours.
SB 571 also created a statewide “do not hire” registry, and TEA data shows at least 485 educators have been added to the list since September 2025.
“No more cover-ups. No more passing the trash,” said Gov. Greg Abbott in a tweet about the legislation.
