CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A substitute teacher faces misdemeanor assault charges for allegedly inappropriately touching three students at Tuloso-Midway High School.
Corpus Christi Police were called to the school around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday where they arrested 43-year-old Raydene Soliz.
17-year-old Jolene Gaona says Soliz called her an expletive when the teen refused to become friends with the substitute teacher on social media.
Then Gaona says things got physical.
“She was in my personal space, and she put her hand on my shoulder," she said. "And I didn’t like that.”
While Gaona was reporting the situation to a coach, she says Soliz turned her attention to two boys in her class.
“The teacher goes up to a boy and starts touching all over him," she said. “She grabbed (the second boy) by the shoulders and started shaking him and had asked him if he likes older women."
The situation has Gaona's mother, Kacy Garcia, calling on the Tuloso-Midway Independent School District to do a better job of vetting substitute teachers.
“I guess looking into more of their background," Garcia said. "Checking them either for alcohol, drugs, anything before they come in."
Interim T.M.I.S.D. Superintendent Janice Sykora said in an email that all substitute teacher applicants are subjected to a previous job reference check and a criminal investigation.
Once hired, the district puts substitute teachers through a three-hour orientation covering topics like child abuse.
"Any report of an employee acting inappropriately will get immediate attention," Sykora said in her email. "The safety and welfare of our students is of utmost importance."
Soliz faces two counts of indecent assault and one count of assault by contact.
The first two counts are Class A Misdemeanors and the third count is a Class C Misdemeanor.
