Millsap ISD board accepts superintendent’s resignation amid child abuse-related arrests
The Millsap school board unanimously accepted the resignation of Superintendent Edie Martin, who was recently arrested and faces a charge related to failing to report abuse of special education students.
The decision Monday night, March 24, by the Millsap Independent School District’s board of trustees came after the board was originally scheduled to consider either terminating Martin’s contract, which would have expired in June 2028, or suspending her without pay.
Martin’s separation with the school district, effective immediately, comes after she and two former special education educators at Millsap Elementary School, 44-year-old Jennifer Dale and 25-year-old Paxton Bean, were arrested last week. A video went viral online that the Parker County Sheriff’s Office says shows Dale swinging her hand at a 10-year-old student, who has autism and is nonverbal, and Bean throwing a toy at the student. Martin faces a charge of failure to report with the intent to conceal, according to the Sheriff’s Office, and law enforcement has identified at least three students as victims in the case.
Board vice president Jon Hartman said the board received Martin’s resignation letter on Monday afternoon. He explained that her resignation was effective immediately and didn’t require a payout.
A termination process required by state law would have ended as early as June 9 or as late as Aug. 27 and would have cost the district money to facilitate. Hartman confirmed Martin would get no severance in her separation from the district. The board’s approval of the resignation also comes after it opted to take no action on a proposed separation agreement during a special meeting on Friday.
“There is no severance. There are no benefits that come with that. It is done immediately tonight,” Hartman said. “So that is the reason that we are not going through with the termination process.”
The board also unanimously approved hiring an outside party “to investigate the conduct” of Millsap Elementary School Principal Roxie Carter and Assistant Principal Drew Casey on Monday. When the Star-Telegram asked the Parker County Sheriff’s Office if it were pursuing charges against the two administrators, spokesperson Danie Huffman said “further details regarding this case will not be publicly released due to the sensitive nature of the case.”
The board also approved unanimously a district policy that bans an employee from evaluating, hiring or working on the same campus as an immediate family member. This comes after several community members said Bean was the daughter of Carter, the elementary school principal.
Before the meeting, a group of parents and community members held signs outside of the Millsap High School building that read: “Justice For All” and “Be a voice for the voiceless” and “End corruption in schools. Restore integrity.”
During public comment at the meeting, speakers demanded that Millsap ISD cut its ties with Martin without giving severance, which the board heeded. Some called on the district to implement preventative policies such as putting cameras in classrooms and investing in child abuse training for staff. Others focused on defending Casey, the assistant principal.
Millsap ISD parent Kinsie Davis told the school board the past three days were the hardest days of her life after the board took no action on a proposed separation agreement during the Friday special meeting. She said that her daughter Aubrie is among the children who have faced abuse, and her trust in the district is completely gone.
“I’m done. This is the last time you will see me. I am un-enrolling my child,” Davis said. “She will not return. There is no way I an trust anybody in this district to be anywhere near my child again or to be honest about anything. Period.”
Amber White, a former Millsap ISD employee and current Millsap parent, spoke out in support of Casey, stating he has been “a steadfast example of leadership that this community desperately needs” who was wrongly caught in the middle of a controversy.
“He was placed in an incredibly difficult situation. One involving a challenging bully of a superintendent (and) a principal governing her own child,” White said. “I believe it is both unfair and unjust to include him in the ongoing controversy surrounding these events that were resulted from a combination of other people’s and the board’s poor choices.”
Dale and Bean, the arrested educators, face charges of official oppression, which can refer to when a public servant intentionally subjects someone to mistreatment, or denies or impedes someone “in the exercise or enjoyment of any right, privilege, power, or immunity.” Bean also faces a charge of injury to a child with intentional bodily injury.
The three women have been released from jail on bond. They could not immediately be reached for comment, and court records do not list defense attorneys for the suspects.
According to the arrest warrant affidavits, one parent told investigators that her 8-year-old son said Bean punched him in the nose. The mother, Whitney Price, was told on Jan. 16 by school staff that her son got a bloody nose from running into a wall. Bean had told the school nurse he had hit his nose either on the wall or on her arm while throwing a fit, according to the affidavits. Bean and Dale also reportedly gave the same boy timeouts lasting from 15 to 40 minutes, and Bean pulled him by his ear, according to witnesses. Bean declined to make statements to the sheriff’s investigators on the advice of her attorney.
Bean and Dale also placed Carissa Kozak Cornelius’ son, Alex, in timeouts as long as 40 minutes, the affidavits state. They’ve also been accused of taunting Alex for two days in a row, leading him to cover his ears and rock back and forth in anxiety. In a different instance, the 10-year-old was locked outside the classroom with his backpack, and Bean could be heard laughing from inside the classroom, according to the court documents.
Dale acknowledged to investigators that she was seen on video swinging her hand at Alex but characterized it as playful, the affidavits say. She also said she made crying noises at him and possibly called him a “crybaby,” which she said was also supposed to be playful.
Victoria Garcia, who spoke at Friday’s board meeting, said that the third victim was her 6-year-old daughter. A teacher’s aide reported seeing Dale tell the little girl she wanted to “put her hands around the child’s neck and squeeze,” the affidavits state. The aide also said she heard Dale call the 6-year-old a vulgar name.
Martin’s arrest warrant states she contacted a law firm contracted with the district and asked legal counsel to begin an external investigation, but she failed to follow state law and report the suspected abuse to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services or the Parker County Sheriff’s Office. She filed a report with the Texas Education Agency on Feb. 28 regarding one of the educators, and she reported allegations involving the second educator to the TEA on March 3, according to investigators.
Texas state law requires that suspected abuse be reported within 48 hours.
Martin told investigators she made reports to Child Protective Services and law enforcement, but investigators found out she never did, according to the affidavit. March 4, when a parent of one of the victims made a report, was when law enforcement was made aware of the allegations, according to the sheriff’s office.
On Friday, several parents and community members spoke out at the special school board meeting, voicing their rage, disappointment and shock while sharing their stories of the alleged abuse of their children and delayed notification of incidents from district officials.
Millsap ISD, in North Texas, has an enrollment of about 1,000 students and is located about 15 miles west of Weatherford in Parker County.
This story was originally published March 24, 2025 at 3:31 PM.
