Dallas Independent School District has agreed to a $1 million civil settlement with federal prosecutors to resolve allegations that it failed to properly report claims of teacher misconduct involving a former special education instructor who later faced criminal charges in another district.
U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Ryan Raybould announced the agreement Tuesday. The case centers on Michael Raymond Roell, also known as Johnathan Michael, who worked as a special education teacher at John F. Peeler Elementary School in Dallas ISD starting in 2022. Prosecutors say the district opened multiple investigations into allegations of sexual misconduct with minors during his employment but did not report them to the State Board for Educator Certification as required under Texas law. The Dallas Morning News reported that Roell left the district in 2024 with no public record of the allegations, later teaching in Plano ISD and then Forney ISD.
In Forney, Roell was arrested after school leaders notified law enforcement of inappropriate contact with children. He faces charges including injury to a child and child grooming in Kaufman County. Federal prosecutors also reached a related civil settlement with Forney ISD. Of the $1 million from Dallas ISD, $145,000 will go to the federal government while $855,000 must be spent on additional training, software, staff and other student-safety measures beyond the district’s existing budget.
Dallas ISD will pay $1 million to settle a federal investigation into how it handled allegations of teacher misconduct. Prosecutors say students and parents raised concerns about former teacher Michael Raymond Roell, but the district didn’t report them to the state, allowing him to teach in other districts. Most of the settlement — $855,000 — will fund added training, software and staff to help identify and report abuse and misconduct. Read more at the link in our bio. 📹: Joe Snell / Staff videographer
— Dallas Morning News (@dallasnews) October 20, 2026
Dallas ISD officials said they strongly disagree with the allegations and that their internal investigation could not corroborate the claims against the former employee. The settlement does not include an admission of liability. As part of the agreement, the district will formalize partnerships with local law enforcement and the Texas Rangers for information sharing on misconduct allegations, review all sexual misconduct claims dating back to 2022 and report findings to the Texas Education Agency, and post clear guidelines on child-abuse reporting duties.
The settlement falls under Project Safe Schools, a federal initiative launched earlier this year to address unreported educator misconduct in North Texas schools. Raybould said the goal is to prevent cases in which teachers accused of misconduct move between districts without a public record of the allegations.
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