Parents applauded as Millsap Independent School District trustees voted to oust Superintendent Edie Martin in the wake of charges that she covered up child abuse by special education teachers.
Martin was arrested last week for failing to report two elementary school teachers’ physical and verbal abuse of at least three special education students—including 10-year-old Alex Cornelius, who is autistic and nonverbal.
Video showing the teachers abusing Alex surfaced earlier this month and was widely shared on social media.
During a packed school board meeting Monday night, trustees voted unanimously to accept Martin’s resignation “effective immediately.”
School Board President Jon Hartman said it was the “cheapest and fastest” way to get rid of the disgraced superintendent and “no severance and no benefits come with that.”
Martin, 53, was arrested on March 20 and charged with failure to report with intent to conceal, a state jail felony.
The teachers—special education teacher Jennifer Cain Dale and paraprofessional Paxton Kendal Bean, whose mother is the elementary school principal—were also arrested on March 20 and no longer work for the district.
Dale, 44, was arrested in Palo Pinto County and charged with official oppression, which is a Class A misdemeanor—unless it’s determined that she acted “with the intent to impair the accuracy of data reported to the Texas Education Agency,” in which case it is a third-degree felony.
Bean, 25, was arrested in Parker County and charged with official oppression and injury to a child, a felony. She was allowed to resign after the abuse allegations surfaced and was then hired by nearby Weatherford ISD. Officials there stated they employed Bean for two days, March 7 and 10, but let her go after learning of the allegations.
According to a statement from the Parker County Sheriff’s Office, the arrests followed “a lengthy investigation into child abuse allegations.”
The staff member who recorded video of Bean and Dale abusing Alex on her cell phone told sheriff’s office investigators she reported the abuse to Martin on February 19.
She and other witnesses reported that Bean physically assaulted multiple Millsap Elementary students and that Bean and Dale “committed mental and verbal abuse against special needs elementary students which included taunting, mocking, threats, profanity and extensive ‘timeouts.’”
The Parker County Sheriff’s Office wrote:
The investigation revealed that Superintendent Martin contacted the Independent School District’s law firm to commission an external investigation and did not report the suspected abuse to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services or the Parker County Sheriff’s Office as required by state law. The investigation further revealed that the superintendent filed a report with the Texas Education Agency on Feb. 28, regarding one educator, then reported the allegations involving the second educator to TEA on March 3.
Another witness reported they advised the superintendent to report the offenses to child protective services and law enforcement. The superintendent reportedly told the witness that she had already made a report to child protective services as of Feb. 20. The Sheriff’s Office was initially made aware of the incidents at the school on March 4, 2025, when a parent of one of the victims contacted the Sheriff’s Office to make a report. The TxDFPS advised Sheriff’s Investigators that they were not contacted by the superintendent but were first notified of the allegations by the Sheriff’s Office on March 4, 2025.
Martin was also recorded instructing one of the whistleblowers to delete videos of the abuse from her phone because “they are educator records.”
“Now I have them, so we need you to delete them,” Martin is heard saying in the audio recording. She also stated, “We appreciate you talking to Ms. Padgett… All appropriate steps will be taken. We take care of kids.”
According to the district, an abuse investigation report authored by Gema Padgett was completed on March 5.
All three educators’ teaching certificates are now under review by the Texas Education Agency.
Millsap Elementary Principal Roxie Carter and Assistant Principal Drew Casey were both placed on administrative leave following the allegations.
After news and video of the abuse went viral, Alex’s mom Carissa Cornelius shared on social media some of the “unimaginable things” done to her child by trusted adults at the school, which she was not made aware of until March 10.
“Imagine if a teacher did that to a general Ed student,” she posted. “My son was abused physically, emotionally, verbally AND SEXUALLY. I guess my son doesn’t deserve privacy. I guess he doesn’t deserve to be treated with respect and dignity. I GUESS BECAUSE HE IS AUTISTIC HE DOESN’T DESERVE THE SAME RESPECT AS ALL THE OTHER KIDS IN THE SCHOOL!”
Cornelius and other parents spoke during a packed special school board meeting last Friday, at which the board decided to postpone consideration of the superintendent’s fate until Monday.
“Edie Martin waited 21 days to tell me my son had been assaulted. She had that video in her hand for three weeks,” Cornelius told trustees. “My son can’t speak for himself, so it’s my job to do that for him. But I can’t do that when you wait 21 days to tell me what happened to him.”
“If this was the first time, that would be one thing, but it’s not. I know that, you know that,” another parent told trustees.
Brandon Hall, the State Board of Education representative for the district, also spoke at the Friday meeting, calling out trustees’ “lack of respect to parents.”
“When you don’t even bother to reach out, that shows exactly how you feel about them,” said Hall. “Every failure is a failure of leadership.”
State Rep. Mike Olcott (R–Aledo), whose district includes Millsap ISD, released a statement saying he was “appalled” by the physical and verbal abuse shown in the video and called for further investigation and accountability for all involved.
Parents and community members showed up in force again Monday night to speak on behalf of Alex and other children at the school.
“What happened to Alex and his classmates should never happen again,” Harrison Whitaker told trustees.
He called for community-driven solutions that provide parents more transparency, such as open-door classrooms and parent-accessible cameras in special education classes.
“You don’t work for the superintendent, the superintendent works for you,” another community member told board members, slamming their statement earlier this month supporting Martin, who is now charged with a felony.
“You failed the community and you failed these kids,” she said. “A lot of trust has been lost.”
A frustrated Millsap ISD mom told trustees they’d lost her trust after her daughter was abused at school.
“This is the last time you’ll see me,” she said. “I am unenrolling my child.”
Bean is accused of abusing yet another special needs student in January after placing him in a “cool down room.” When the child emerged with a bloody nose, Bean told the school nurse he “ran into her arm or the wall,” but in a forensic interview the child alleged Bean punched him.
“This fight isn’t just for Alex,” Cornelius posted on social media. “This fight is for every child that was affected by this. This fight is bigger than Millsap ISD. This fight is for ALL of the vulnerable children out there getting abused in school… This should never happen to a child at the hands of someone who is supposed to care for and protect them.”
Trustees also voted unanimously Monday night to hire a third party to investigate Carter and Assistant Principal Drew Casey. Hartman said Casey will be back on campus “in a limited capacity” while the investigation is ongoing. Some parents spoke in support of keeping Casey, who they view as not culpable for the crimes alleged at the school.
In addition, Millsap ISD trustees voted unanimously to update district policy to prohibit staff from hiring or supervising immediate family members and to allow investigating agencies and families of students involved to view the district’s March 5 report on the abuse.
Parents raised another important question Monday night: Would Millsap ISD have addressed these issues if Alex’s mom hadn’t shared on social media the heartbreaking video of her child being abused by his teachers?
Millsap ISD is a small three-school district with just 1,100 students, yet the community turned out to support Alex and other families whose students have been victims of abuse by adults paid by the state and entrusted to care for their children—what parent advocacy group Texas Education 911 calls “state-sponsored child abuse.”
It took the community rallying behind victimized families and whistleblower teachers—with support from local law enforcement and state officials—for elected school board members to finally initiate change within Millsap ISD.
Two Millsap ISD school board seats are on the May 3 ballot.
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