Dallas ISD fined $1M for failing to report teacher's child abuse allegations

DALLAS - The U.S. Department of Justice announced a $1 million settlement with the Dallas Independent School District that revealed allegations of mishandled child abuse claims involving a special education teacher.

Dallas ISD is accused of failing to disclose four investigations involving Michael Roell, who was later accused of child abuse in Forney ISD.

Dallas ISD accused of mishandling child abuse claims

What's new:

On Tuesday, U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybold accused Dallas ISD of failing to report Roell as required by state law.

"Before teaching in Forney ISD, Roell taught special education at Dallas ISD. Over three years, the district launched four separate investigations into misconduct by Roell involving minors and his abuse of minors. Not one, not two, not three, but four. But not one report was made by DISD to the state of Texas. Despite those allegations, and despite explicit reporting requirements under Texas law, Roell left Dallas ISD in May of 2024, carrying no public record of misconduct and no designation of alert to future school districts that he was a predator," he said.

According to the DOJ's settlement with Dallas ISD, one of the four allegations came from an anonymous tipster in 2023 who reported that Roell had sexually abused him at a scout camp in Athens, Texas sometime between 2000 and 2004. The tipster said he was 14 years old at the time and Roell was an adult. He claimed Roell touched his genitals and had touched other boys while serving as a Boy Scout leader. The tipster told Dallas ISD he believed Roell selected him because he felt he would not disclose the conduct.

By law, Dallas ISD and all public school districts are required to report evidence of educator misconduct. Raybold said Dallas ISD did not do that and instead allowed Roell to resign after only being placed on an internal "Do Not Hire" list.

"DISD knew he was a problem, but they let him walk out the door to potentially prey on other students. Now, of course, this protected DISD at the time. At least they thought. But this is the textbook definition of ‘pass the trash’ and what we're trying to stop here in North Texas. And let me be clear. This is not a problem just in North Texas or just in Texas. This is a problem across the country," Raybold said.

What's next:

In addition to a $1 million fine, Dallas ISD in a settlement agreement with the government agreed to bring in local, state, and federal law enforcement when there are allegations requiring investigations.

Dallas ISD also agreed to post signs outlining child abuse reporting duties, review every sexual misconduct allegation dating back to 2022, and provide results to the Texas Education Agency.

U.S. Attorney Raybold also sent a letter to all North Texas school districts letting them know that if there are any sexual misconduct allegations that have not been reported over the past five years, those should be reported immediately.

"If your district has engaged in any form of concealment, we strongly encourage voluntary disclosure," he said.

The other side:

In a statement to FOX 4, Dallas ISD encouraged people to read the findings in the settlement.

It explains that the decades-old allegation involving the scout was reviewed by Dallas ISD police and the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, both deciding the case did not fall under their jurisdiction. And after interviewing witnesses and the complainant, the district's Office of Professional Standards found there was not enough evidence to cooperate the allegations against Roell.

"While we strongly disagree with the government's allegations and legal interpretations of this statute, which was amended by the Texas Legislature last year, we share the fundamental goal of Project Safe Schools  – protecting students and ensuring their safety," Dallas ISD said.

Scouting America has not yet responded to FOX 4's request for a comment.

Who is Michael Roell?

The backstory:

Roell, who legally changed his name to Johnathan Michael in 2025, was arrested in May and charged with two counts of injury to a child and one count of child grooming. 

A federal grand jury later indicted both him and Wendy Bailey, the former Crosby Elementary School principal in Forney ISD, on charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Investigators claimed they conspired to conceal his history of alleged child abuse by changing his name.

Timeline:

Roell was first arrested in 2016 while working for Garland ISD and charged with indecency to a child with sexual contact. He was later acquitted in that case.

He spent a few years working in the hospice and healthcare industry before he was hired to work as an inclusion teacher in Dallas ISD from 2022 to 2024. In 2024, Dallas ISD administrators allegedly gave him the choice between resigning or being fired. He resigned and was placed on an internal Dallas ISD "Do Not Hire" list.

Roell was fired from Denton ISD after being in the classroom for only a few days and rejected from employment in Plano ISD prior to being hired as a special education instructor in Forney ISD in 2025.

Federal documents show Bailey was aware of Roell’s concerning past when he applied to Forney ISD, telling another teacher in an email, "No thank you, LOLOLOL! Let's try again:)" But she later reached out to him through text messages and encouraged him to explore changing his name.

After Roell changed his name to Johnathan Michael, he applied to Forney ISD under the new name and made no mention of his prior arrest or allegations in the application.

This past April, two teacher’s aides at Crosby Elementary School reported that Roell inappropriately touched a special needs student and made sexually explicit comments towards other students. 

Bailey allegedly failed to report the allegations. One of the teacher’s aides was also reassigned for her complaint, so she reported the allegations directly to the child’s parent. That’s when police finally got involved.

Forney ISD also reached a settlement with the DOJ because the district received federal funding while falsely saying it was complying with mandatory reporting laws related to Bailey and Michael's arrests.

Like Dallas ISD, Forney ISD agreed to pay a fine and adopt enhanced compliance measures to prevent future reporting failures.

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