Corsicana ISD fires teacher facing 12 indecency with a child charges

CORSICANA, Texas - An elementary school teacher in North Texas who is now facing a total of 12 charges of indecency with a child has been fired.

Ramon Mendoza, 48, taught third grade at Sam Houston Elementary in the Corsicana Independent School District.

A special meeting called by the Corsicana ISD School Board on Thursday lasted just minutes.

"The administration recommends the termination of the term contract of Raymond Mendoza," was the decision at the meeting.

The decision to fire the disgraced teacher on the grounds of "good cause" was unanimous.

Some Sam Houston Elementary teachers sat in the audience in a show of support for students and parents at their school.

"As a district, we just have a lot of people who have a lot of emotions tied to this case. Whether they're teachers, administrators and students, and it's been hard on everyone. So we really have got to stick together to do what we can to rise up and defeat this," Corsicana ISD spokeswoman Susan Johnson said.

Mendoza was first placed on administrative leave in April, and then arrested last week on six counts. He was arrested a second time Tuesday and charged with six more counts.

Corsicana ISD said a third grader told a school counselor about Mendoza touching her inappropriately. That same day, he was put on leave.

A second child made a similar claim, and parents received a note from the district stating Mendoza had been removed from the classroom without any explanation.

A concerned father who spoke to FOX 4 last week said he was more than a dozen third grade parents who met with Corsicana ISD police. He believes his daughter was a victim and said she was interviewed at the Navarro County Children’s Advocacy Center.

FOX 4 has chosen not to use his name because his daughter is a possible sexual assault victim.

“She told me this has been going on since September,” the dad said. “She’s scared to talk about it.”

He said when he told his daughter about Mendoza’s arrest, she glowed. She was a little worried about him coming back but he assured her he wouldn’t touch her ever again.

"There are still a couple of more interviews with students to be had," Johnson added. "We are wrapping these things up and hopefully we'll be able to complete an investigation as far as Mr. Mendoza is concerned."

Mendoza remains in the Navarro County Jail. His bond set at $600,000.