FORT BEND COUNTY, Texas – A Fort Bend Independent School District teacher resigned Thursday morning amid an investigation into photos police say he took of elementary school students. Police are now trying to identify the students in the hundreds of photos.
District officials say the bilingual teacher taught second-grade students at Rosa Parks Elementary School. No charges have been filed, but the teacher resigned Thursday.
A letter was sent to parents of Rosa Parks Elementary students early Thursday afternoon, letting them know of the investigation. The letter read in part: "On Tuesday, June 9, Sugar Land Police contacted our Fort Bend ISD Police Department to alert them that they had obtained photos of female students that appeared to have been taken in a local classroom. Working together, the two departments immediately began an investigation and determined that the unauthorized photos were taken by a second-grade bilingual teacher at Rosa Parks Elementary. Though the students photographed were fully dressed, the photos are concerning to both police and District staff."
Fort Bend ISD Police Chief David Rider told KPRC an employee at the photo counter of a drugstore thought something was off about the pictures and contacted law enforcement Tuesday. Rider said there were nearly 450 photos.
"All of the students are fully dressed, they appear to be in a classroom setting, and so it's just things that I would not expect a teacher to be taking pictures of students during the classroom day," Rider said.
He said he could not elaborate on the nature of the photos, and they do not know yet if parents had given consent for their children to be photographed at school.
Fort Bend ISD issued this statement, which reads in part: "Our District is committed to ensuring a safe learning environment at all of our Fort Bend ISD campuses, and we want you to know that we are doing everything we can to make sure all of our teachers and staff members are held to high standards, and also held accountable. Any violation of trust involving our educators is unacceptable and will be thoroughly investigated."
Police are now working to identify any students who may have been photographed. Police ask any staff member, parent or student with information helpful to the investigation to come forward. Anyone with information can contact FBISD Crime Stoppers at (281) 491-8477 or call Lt. Michael Harvey directly at (281) 634-5500.