Le Journal

Parents and community members demanded Celina ISD leaders step down at a board meeting on Tuesday. It came after the release of a report into allegations of misconduct by former Moore Middle School football coach Caleb Elliott. Elliott was arrested in October on state and federal charges after he was accused of recording cell phone video of naked boys in a school locker room. “Y’all dropped the ball, huge, all over the place. You can’t tell me you didn’t know what was going on,” said Celina resident Michael Conway. “We have redacted pages. We have missing parts of the story, and we have almost zero accountability,” said advocate Samuel Hall. In the report, the independent investigator, hired by the district, noted systemic issues and failures in Celina’s athletic department and at Moore. She noted that Bill Elliott, Caleb’s father and the athletic director at the time, used his influence to get his son hired. Tuesday, parents stepped up one by one during public comment to call for an overhaul. “It’s an embarrassment. What you’re doing is a good ‘ol boy program, and you’re protecting Bill. There’s a couple of good members on this board. I know who you are, but there are others that need to go,” said Chris Caldwell. “Everybody on this panel, especially you, Tom. Dr. Tom, this is on your watch. You’re in material breach of your contract with our district,” said Tom Bates. “The dismissal of Dr. Tom, along with the resignation of the entire board of trustees, is not a political move. It’s not personal. It is necessary,” said Andrea Baque. The board took its discussion behind closed doors. The executive session was the second in two weeks set aside to discuss the findings of the report. After three hours, the board adjourned without responding to those who showed up to address them.

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