A principal and two other employees of Newman International Academy in Arlington have been arrested on charges related to sexual grooming of students.
In addition, the charter school’s athletic director and two coaches are on leave while police investigate the alleged crimes.
All six worked at the NIA Gibbins campus, which serves 7th through 12th-grade students.
Texas Scorecard reported last week that Ruel “JR” Barbee, a 53-year-old instructional aide at the school, was arrested on February 6 for improper relationship between educator and student—a second-degree felony punishable by 2 to 20 years in prison.
Barbee was released from the Tarrant County Jail on February 7 on a $15,000 bond.
Assistant girls’ basketball coach Gabrielle Little, 20, was jailed on Monday, February 10, on a charge of child grooming, a third-degree felony punishable by 2 to 10 years in prison.
She was released the same day on a $15,000 bond.
Principal Richard Allen Adams was arrested Wednesday, February 12, and charged with professional failure to make a required child abuse report with intent to conceal, a state jail felony.
Adams was also charged with tampering with a witness and three counts of tampering with physical evidence, all third-degree felonies.
He was released from the Tarrant County Jail on a total of $50,000 in bonds—$10,000 for each charge.
NIA administrators have not responded to requests for comment, but WFAA reports that according to district police, Barbee and Little were fired on February 6, and Adams is on leave.
In addition to the three educators arrested, NIA police told WFAA that three other school employees are on paid administrative leave while the investigation continues: the athletic director, the head varsity girls’ basketball coach, and an assistant football coach.
State records show that Adams’ lifetime teaching certificate is under review by the Texas Education Agency. Barbee’s certificate expired in 2022.
Superintendent Sheba George released a statement Wednesday saying NIA “will root out any exploitation or abuse of our students” and calling on “other institutions responsible for the safety and well-being of children” to “take similar actions in response to this epidemic in our schools.”
The NIA Police Department has scheduled a press conference for Thursday afternoon to address the ongoing investigation.
In just the past few years, hundreds of Texas teachers have been accused of sex crimes involving students and other children.
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