Police have arrested a Texas teacher who was fired from Jacksboro Independent School District in April after being accused of having an “improper relationship” with an 18-year-old student.
Elizabeth Bondarets, 29, was a paraprofessional at Jacksboro High School.
She was terminated on April 21 after a district administrator received allegations about the educator and an “adult student” and reported the incident to the Jacksboro Police Department.
The case has been under criminal investigation ever since.
Bondarets was arrested Wednesday and charged with improper relationship between educator and student, a second-degree felony punishable by two to 20 years in prison.
Texas Penal Code defines an “improper relationship” as a primary or secondary school employee engaging in sexual contact or sexually explicit communication with any student.
Jacksboro Police Chief Scott Haynes said Wednesday that Bondarets surrendered herself on a felony warrant at the Parker County Sheriff’s Office.
Haynes began investigating the allegations in April but waited seven weeks to notify the public, without revealing the teacher’s name, saying there was “no longer any threat to any students.”
“I take full responsibility for the efforts to protect the integrity and confidentiality of this investigation as well as the victim’s right to privacy,” Haynes said in a June 8 press release.
Bondarets was released from Parker County Jail on a $5,000 bond.
State Board for Educator Certification records show Bondarets was certified as an educational aide in June 2022 and is currently under review by the Texas Education Agency.
Texas Scorecard has reported on dozens of Texas educators accused of sex crimes involving students, and more “bad apples” are being charged almost every day.
