Months after being accused of grooming girls via Snapchat, Texas teacher and baseball coach Derrick Jenkins is “no longer employed” by the Collinsville Independent School District.
Jenkins was put on paid administrative leave last October.
The Collinsville High School coach and special education teacher had been reported to district administrators for engaging in inappropriate social media communications with girls at the school and consuming alcohol off campus with minor students.
In January, Collinsville ISD trustees unanimously approved terminating Jenkins’ contract “for good cause.”
Jenkins appealed to the Texas Education Agency and in February was granted a review by an independent hearing examiner.
Earlier this month, the deadline passed for trustees to announce a final decision on Jenkins’ employment based on the examiner’s recommendation.
In response to an inquiry, a Collinsville ISD official told Texas Scorecard on May 13 that Jenkins “is no longer employed by the district.”
The district has not yet replied to a request for more details about Jenkins’ departure.
While it’s not clear where Jenkins is now, the Collinsville Police Department and TEA are still actively investigating the coach.
Jenkins has held a Texas teaching certificate for special education since 2003. In the past decade, Jenkins has worked in Whitehouse, Alto, Lindsay, and Collinsville ISDs.
He joined Collinsville in the 2021-22 school year with a reputation for winning baseball games.
But grooming allegations weren’t the only controversy surrounding Jenkins. He also has a history of volatility on the field.
During his time coaching baseball for Collinsville ISD, he was ejected from a game while on probation for a third time, publicly reprimanded twice by the University Interscholastic League, and suspended for significant parts of the 2023 and 2024 seasons. Still, the Pirates won state championships in 2024 and 2025.
In 2019, Jenkins resigned from Whitehouse ISD after being “reassigned” and removed as head baseball coach for Whitehouse High School.
Documents obtained by education advocate Ami Glover revealed that Jenkins was demoted due to an incident during a baseball tournament at a Whitehouse ISD facility that generated a flood of complaints from other adults at the event.
One called Jenkins “the biggest jerk in East Texas.”
“How this man has a job is beyond me,” the complainant wrote. “It’s not enough that he’s turned dozens of kids away from baseball at WH, humiliates himself (and the school) by acting like a belligerent idiot screaming, but now he’s turning kids and families away from shelter during a potential tornado.”
Others also complained about Jenkins’ coaching style, saying he favored some student athletes and bullied others, and alleged Jenkins had been caught cheating in the past by using an ineligible player.
“This is an embarrassment for our baseball program, our district, and my office,” then-Superintendent Chris Moran wrote to Jenkins. “You have demonstrated very poor decision making. I’m going to give you some really good advice. You should make career decisions for yourself before others do it for you.”
