Celina Independent School District’s embattled Athletic Director and Head Football Coach Bill Elliott is retiring amid a scandal surrounding his son’s sexual misconduct with students and allegations of a coverup.
Celina ISD shared the news with Bobcat families in a statement released Wednesday morning.
The announcement came a day after the Celina ISD school board agreed to release an investigative report on whether administrators—including Bill Elliott—hushed up alleged past misconduct by then-coach Caleb Elliott, who is charged with secretly recording undressed students in the Moore Middle School boys’ locker room.
According to the announcement, Bill Elliott “informed district officials of his retirement” following 33 years on the job.
The district thanked Elliott for his “service and leadership during his tenure in Celina ISD,” which included several state football championships, and stated Kyle Sheridan will continue serving as Interim Athletic Director.
Bill Elliott has been on paid administrative leave since October 24 while an outside attorney conducted an investigation into the district’s hiring practices and “related matters.”
Some Celina families suspect Elliott’s retirement is a move to dodge further scrutiny of his possible role in enabling his son’s access to young students.
State Rep. Jeff Leach (R–Allen) went further.
“The entire Celina ISD School Board needs to go. And now,” Leach posted to X.
“Years of abuse and misconduct happened under his watch — and the Board is allowing him to resign instead of firing him. Not just no — but hell no!” wrote Leach. “As is so often the case – the institutional abuse and cover up is sometimes worse than the abuse itself. And it cannot be allowed to stand.”
Other Celina ISD parents, including members of sports-booster groups Bobcat Moms and the Quarterback Club, believe Bill Elliott has done no wrong and should not be held responsible for his son’s actions.
Results of the third-party investigation commissioned by the district may—or may not—shed public light on the issue.
Trustees privately reviewed findings of the investigation during a special school board meeting on Monday and afterward stated that they would release a redacted version of the report to the public by the end of this week.
“The district will be as transparent as the law and confidentiality concerns will allow,” School Board President Jeff Gravley stated at the conclusion of the meeting, adding that trustees would continue their discussion at the next regular board meeting on January 20.
Gravley then released a statement Tuesday evening that provided a preview of the findings and suggested that they absolved the district and its employees of any wrongdoing in their hiring or supervision of Caleb Elliott prior to his arrests last fall.
According to Gravley, the investigator “found no evidence to substantiate” that any district employees had “knowledge of” Caleb Elliott’s alleged past misconduct.
The statement noted that the investigator had only interviewed school employees, not students or parents, although anyone with information had been encouraged to come forward.
State Rep. Mitch Little (R–Lewisville), an attorney representing 17 Moore Middle School students targeted by Caleb Elliott, called the statement “self-serving” and confirmed in an X post that the investigator had not talked to “a single victim or their families.”
Gravley’s statement also referenced a “pending Special Investigation” by the Texas Education Agency and indicated that investigations by the Texas Attorney General’s Office and other agencies also found no evidence of district wrongdoing in the matter. Texas Scorecard has requested clarification about the status of those investigations from the TEA and attorney general.
Meanwhile, Caleb Elliott is in jail awaiting trial on multiple federal charges related to his illicit locker room recordings of male students, which date back to April 2025.
Elliott is also a defendant in four civil lawsuits, along with the school district, that allege administrators were not only aware of Elliott’s prior predation of young boys, but deliberately covered it up—possibly to protect the legacy of Celina ISD’s famed football program.
Caleb Elliott is among hundreds of Texas educators accused of sex crimes involving students and other children in just the past few years.
Previous reporting:
- Celina ISD Coach Charged With Invasive Visual Recording of Middle Schoolers
- Celina ISD Middle School Coach Faces New Child Porn Charge
- Celina ISD Lets Coach Resign After Locker Room Recording Scandal
- Victims of Locker Room Recording Scandal Sue Celina ISD for Cover-up
- Lawmaker Calls for State to Investigate Celina ISD Scandal
- Celina ISD Faces Criminal Investigation Over Claimed Coverup of Coach Preying on Boys
- State Rep. Mitch Little Calls for Transparency in Celina ISD Sexual Abuse Scandal
- More Families Sue Celina ISD Over Locker Room Recording Scandal
- Celina ISD Coach Faces Third Arrest as More Families Join Lawsuit
- Celina ISD Coach Hit With Federal Child Exploitation Charges
- Celina Police Department Concludes Criminal Investigation Into Caleb Elliott
- Third Lawsuit Filed in Celina ISD Locker Room Recording Scandal
- Fourth Lawsuit Filed Against Celina ISD, Coach Caleb Elliott
- Celina ISD To Release ‘Redacted’ Report From Sex Abuse Investigation
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