UPDATED February 18.
Collinsville families calling for school administrators to be placed on leave while under investigation for official misconduct were disappointed by trustees’ failure to take action at Monday night’s school board meeting.
However, trustees did announce plans to hire an outside investigator to look into alleged misconduct within the Collinsville Independent School District.
Families learned earlier this month that Collinsville ISD Superintendent Matthew Davenport, Collinsville High School Principal Kim Patterson, and Athletic Director Garrett Patterson are all “under review” by the Texas Education Agency’s Educator Investigations Division.
Parents have alleged that Davenport and the Pattersons failed to report past complaints about baseball coach Derrick Jenkins and other student safety issues within the district’s athletics department and that the administrators have retaliated against parents and staff who spoke out.
Jenkins, a coach and special education teacher, has been on paid leave since last October, in response to allegations that he engaged in inappropriate communications with female students via social media apps—a violation of district policy and the Texas Educators’ Code of Ethics. He is also under investigation by the TEA and the Collinsville Police Department.
During their January meeting, trustees unanimously approved initiating the process to fire Jenkins for cause. Jenkins appealed.
On Monday night, Collinsville community members called out the district’s response to complaints about Jenkins and others and called on trustees to take more action.
Collinsville ISD parents Danny and Destiny Dougherty told trustees that they reported alleged misconduct to district officials and received retaliation instead of results.
“It had nothing to do with football,” said dad Danny Dougherty. “It was about our child being mistreated and going through the proper channels to make sure it was addressed.”
This is not about sports. This is about culture. This is about adult leadership. This is about whether students and families can report concerns without fear of retaliation. Since making a good faith report, our family has experienced the opposite of what doing the right thing is supposed to bring. Instead, we were met with retaliation and threats.
“If we expect students to stand up for what’s right, then the adults in this administration must live up to their own motto of integrity,” said Mr. Dougherty.
“So tonight, we are asking for action: a formal review of policies and supervision standards that allow this to happen, clear oversight to ensure those policies are consistently enforced, transparency in how complaints are handled and resolved, and explicit protections for any student or parent who makes a good faith report so retaliation is not tolerated.”
“Accountability must be more than words. It must be visible,” he added. “We chose to speak up because protecting kids matters more than staying silent … When a family does the right thing and is punished for it, every other family learns the lesson: stay quiet. If that is the culture we allow, then we are failing every child in this district.”
“The law is clear and so is your duty,” said Destiny Dougherty, who reported Jenkins’ inappropriate communications with students. “Mandatory reporting, whistleblower protection, and student safety are not optional, and yet that is exactly what is happening in Collinsville ISD.”
“Your role tonight is oversight, not protection of individuals,” she told trustees. “You are here to manage the superintendent. When leadership fails, it is your responsibility to act.”
“The majority of this board has family or close social ties to administrators under investigation. That makes your responsibility to act even more critical,” she added. “If you cannot be unbiased, you have no business on this board.”
Mrs. Dougherty told trustees she has “documented evidence” that Superintendent Davenport “leaked my good faith report,” and said placing administrators on leave pending an investigation “protects students and ensures a fair process for everyone involved.”
Is student safety your highest legal obligation, yes or no? Is student safety your highest moral obligation, yes or no? Are mandatory reporting laws optional in this district, yes or no?
Is retaliation against families or educators who report concerns acceptable, yes or no?
“When leadership fails to respond to adult-student boundary concerns, it allows abuse to go undetected, putting students at risk,” said Mrs. Dougherty, noting that the district’s top leadership is under state scrutiny.
“What is happening in Collinsville ISD—retaliation and reporting failures—is why this state appointed an inspector general for educator misconduct,” she added. “Parents and educators are watching, the State of Texas is watching, and a higher authority is monitoring for legal compliance and student safety.”
Callie McDonald told trustees that Jenkins was “reported repeatedly” for grooming behavior with female students, but administrators “didn’t do anything.”
McDonald is a 2014 graduate of Collinsville ISD who was subjected to years of sexual grooming and assault by a coach while she was a student in nearby S&S Consolidated ISD. Athletic Director Garrett Patterson was the head coach at S&S from 2011 to 2014, though not in a supervisory position over the coach who assaulted McDonald.
“So I’d like to tell you a little bit of what the grooming process looks like,” said McDonald. “It looks like boundary testing—not just with the students, but with the adults too, because when the culture accepts it, the kids don’t know any better. It teaches kids to protect the adults that are grooming them.”
McDonald told trustees that previous students “came out of the woodwork” to tell her their stories, due to her public advocacy for school accountability in cases of student abuse.
“I’ve had multiple students, multiple teachers, and multiple previous employees reach out to me because I was an advocate, to tell me how many times this was reported to the Pattersons specifically and Davenport,” she said.
So what’s your responsibility as an administrator? You didn’t groom the kids, right? You didn’t do anything. You didn’t do anything. You watched it. And you know what? Everyone watched it happen to me for four years too. They watched it, and a few brave teachers reported it.
And do you know what the board did? They accommodated him with board rules, like you guys are all accommodating right now by changing your board rules behind the scenes, by changing your teachers’ conduct requirements behind the scenes.
One such rule change was in an email Davenport sent to staff last week, stating that as of February 16, two school employees must go on all overnight trips with students and “be present for the supervision of students”—a safeguard not previously required or followed.
McDonald also challenged Davenport’s description of the complaints as “defamatory.”
“Only so many statements can stack up before it’s not defamatory anymore,” added McDonald.
Collinsville resident Mary Alexander explained to trustees how her daughter was groomed by a teacher in nearby Tioga ISD, who had an inappropriate relationship with the girl in secret that was pushed under the rug for years.
“We went through that whole grievance process, and the teacher eventually was allowed to resign,” she said.
The teacher, Brad Strickland, was reprimanded by the TEA but is now teaching in Sherman ISD. Alexander’s daughter has since married Grayson County District Attorney John Kermit Hill.
“The trash has been passed,” said Alexander, noting that since then the Texas Legislature passed new laws to help protect students and families—including the criminalization of grooming and the removal of sovereign immunity from school districts—and the state has appointed a new inspector general for educator misconduct.
My ask is that you educate and train your staff, that you monitor and report—even if it’s okay with the parents involved with that student and teacher. That’s how grooming works. They not only groom the student, they’re grooming the parents.
Along with it, educate the community also. So many in the community, even moms, are like, “Oh no, that’s not really happening. You’re just trying to trash the school. You’re just trying to trash the town. That’s not really happening. It’s obviously you’re a bad parent.”
“No, that is not the case,” added Alexander. “Our community needs to be educated, and they need to realize that, yes, it can happen to you just like it happened to me. Damage has been done. I pray that the community and the victims can heal and move on, and that any future cases involving grooming and inappropriate teacher student relationships are prevented.”
Destiny Dougherty summed up public sentiment in the crowded board room:
“Tonight is the moment when this board has the authority to act. The question tonight is whether this board would act. Will you act tonight to protect students by placing those under investigation on administrative leave and declining to renew contracts?”
The answer to both of Mrs. Dougherty’s questions was “no.”
Following public comments, trustees met in closed session for about an hour and a half, along with Superintendent Davenport.
Afterwards, Board President Jared Light announced that the district plans to hire a third-party investigator to “look into allegations regarding district misconduct,” separate from the TEA investigation. Nothing else was said about the matter.
None of the three administrators being investigated were placed on leave.
Instead, trustees unanimously approved new contracts for two of the administrators under investigation, Kim and Garrett Patterson. Davenport’s contract was renewed in January.
Jenkins’ status remains unclear. Although he remains a paid employee of the district while appealing his contract termination, he disappeared last week from the district’s main online staff directory but is still shown on the Athletics page.
According to a report by KXII Tuesday, Light said the district was informed by the TEA that there was a “procedural error” in Jenkins’ filing. Light said the board will call a special meeting to take action on final termination of Jenkins’ contract.
A TEA spokesman told Texas Scorecard the agency received Jenkins’ request for an Independent Hearing Examiner (IHE) on his proposed termination, but it was initially incomplete. According to the TEA, “if the request for an appeal is untimely, the IHE will recommend dismissal for lack of jurisdiction and the educator would not have an evidentiary hearing on the proposed termination action.”
Jenkins’ wife Whitney Jenkins remains listed as a teacher at the elementary school, although she reportedly has not been working there since the scandal broke.
In addition to the grooming allegations, Jenkins also has a history of volatility on the field. While coaching for Collinsville ISD, he was ejected from multiple baseball games and received 10- and 14-game suspensions from the district and the University Interscholastic League, as well as a two-year probation, a public reprimand, and required training. Yet Jenkins still coached the Pirates to “State Championship gold.”
Multiple married couples are employed by Collinsville ISD, including the Jenkinses; the Pattersons; Superintendent Davenport and his wife, a teacher at the high school; Collinsville Elementary School Principal Daniel Bates and his wife, a teacher at the same school; and CISD Police Chief David Walters and his wife, a teacher at the elementary school.
Trustee Light’s wife is also a teacher in the district; Trustee Matt Weaver’s wife is a paraprofessional and his mother is the district nurse. Trustee Ryan Patterson is Athletic Director Garrett Patterson’s cousin.
Despite anti-nepotism policies, it is a common practice for school districts to hire family members, which can lead to conflicts of interest when complaints arise—in particular, when one family member has supervisory authority over another.
Collinsville ISD families can contact their elected school board members with questions or concerns.
Three trustees are up for re-election in May: Matt Weaver, Place 1; Ryan Patterson, Place 2; and Jared Light, Place 3.
