A female substitute teacher was charged with sexual misconduct involving a 17-year-old male student in the Balmorhea Independent School District.
In a separate incident, a Balmorhea ISD coach was charged with injuring student athletes while employed in a different school district.
Meranda Jasmin Valerio, 22, was arrested last month and charged with improper relationship between educator and student, a second-degree felony punishable by 2 to 20 years in prison.
According to an affidavit obtained by NewsWest 9, the Reeves County Sheriff’s Office arrested Valerio after investigating allegations that she had engaged in inappropriate sexual conduct with a student.
Valerio’s alleged relations with the 17-year-old boy occurred while she was working as a substitute teacher during the 2025-26 school year and into the summer of 2026.
Based on information from Child Protective Services and interviews with the student, Valerio, and witnesses, investigators obtained an arrest warrant.
Valerio reportedly turned herself in to the Reeves County Sheriff’s Office on September 2 and was later released on a $50,000 bond.
State records show Valerio does not hold a Texas teaching certificate. She is listed as “under investigation” on the state’s Do Not Hire Registry.
Valerio is a 2022 graduate of Balmorhea High School.
Recently appointed Interim Superintendent Roger Ellis told Texas Scorecard the alleged misconduct between Valerio and the student occurred off-campus and was reported to proper authorities when discovered.
Another Balmorhea ISD educator, 23-year-old assistant football coach Emmanuel Serna, was arrested in September for allegedly injuring students in February while he was working at Texas Leadership Charter Academy of San Angelo.
Serna and other TLCA coaches are accused of forcing student athletes ages 14 and younger to perform hundreds of punishment pushups, causing serious bodily injury. A civil lawsuit alleges that 20 students were hospitalized with rhabdomyolysis, a condition caused by rapid muscle breakdown that can cause kidney failure and death. Serna allegedly scolded students who complained and urged them to continue.
A grand jury indicted Serna on September 9 on four counts of injury to a child and four counts of endangering a child, according to a report by KTSM. He was booked into the Tom Green County Jail on September 17 on a charge of injury to a child and released the same day on a $20,000 bond.
In a September 17 press release that did not name Serna, Ellis stated that Balmorhea ISD administrators learned of the alleged misconduct on September 16 and immediately removed the educator from campus, reported the allegations to appropriate authorities, and initiated an internal investigation.
Ellis stated that the educator was not suspected of any wrongdoing involving Balmorhea ISD students, adding that state and federal laws prohibit the district from “disclosing confidential information related to personnel.”
“Student safety is a top priority at Balmorhea ISD,” he stated, noting that the district “strictly enforces its policies and regulations” relating to employees’ conduct, and that employees receive “regular training” regarding such policies.
Serna is a 2021 graduate of Balmorhea High School. He was a student athlete in football and track and also competed in track at Angelo State University.
Serna’s teaching certificate, issued in February 2025, is under review by the Texas Education Agency. His certificate includes an “exemplary teacher” designation. Ellis told Scorecard he could be reinstated if cleared of the charges against him.
Balmorhea ISD is a one-school district with 140 students and 40 staff members. The district is in the process of searching for a new superintendent.
Over the past few years, hundreds of Texas school employees have been accused of sex crimes involving students and other children, and thousands have been reported to the TEA for sexual and physical misconduct.
TEA data shows the agency is currently investigating more than 3,000 educator sexual misconduct complaints and 7,000 in-school violence complaints. Overall misconduct reports tripled in 2026 compared to 2025.
