Parents upset with Cleveland ISD after arrest of teacher charged with sexual assault

CLEVELAND, Texas - A Cleveland ISD educator, who was once a teacher of the year in 2019, is now charged with sexual assault of a child. The child is a student at Cleveland Middle School. 

"To hear that a teacher is having an inappropriate relationship with a student is very upsetting," says Teree Evans, mother. 

MORE: Cleveland ISD Middle School teacher arrested for sexual assault of child

The Liberty County Sheriff’s Office says Cleveland ISD teacher Alexander Oveal Jr. was charged.

Oveal was arrested on October 10, however, the district sent a letter home with students on October 18. The lapse in time have many parents upset. 

The district says the students were given a note to take home on their first day back from fall break and were alerted electronically over the break. 

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Mother Three Evans is upset she didn’t receive any notification. She says she first heard of it by chance.

"Yesterday, I happened to take my daughter’s younger sister to dance and one of the moms up there is a teacher. She disclosed the incident to me," Evans said. "My daughter is in 6th grade, she’s 11-years-old, and it’s upsetting because we leave our kids here. We trust an adult is not going to do something like that."

Evans says after she was first informed, she went onto the district's page. 

"There was a small of an article stating the article stating the arrest and how he’s on leave for an inappropriate relationship with a student," says Evans. "It’s upsetting that a note from Cleveland Middle School was not sent out."

Cleveland ISD saying in a statement: "The district has taken immediate action and launched a full investigation in conjunction with law enforcement agencies. Cleveland ISD has placed the middle school staff member that is in question, on administrative leave pending the outcome of a complete investigation."