Lashala Nicks says she is devastated after Bryan ISD fired her on Tuesday, Oct. 27. Nicks says she spent 13 years with the district, including the past three as a varsity assistant basketball coach at Bryan High School.
Nicks says the firing followed a District Executive Committee hearing on allegations that she recruited students from Rudder High School to Bryan High School, a possible violation of University Interscholastic League rules. She says the complaint came from former Rudder colleagues. During that process, district officials learned about a student Nicks had mentored, who had said they felt uncomfortable at home. Nicks says the student did not describe any specific abuse or neglect, and that she offered to let the student stay at her home temporarily.
Nicks says she did not believe the situation required a formal report to authorities. She says human resources told her on Oct. 21 that they would report her to the Texas Education Agency for a possible violation of state reporting rules, and asked her to file a police report and notify Child Protective Services. On Oct. 27, Nicks says she was told her employment was ending for failing to report the student's statement to the proper authorities. She says she was never written up or suspended.