Valerie Lauren Mata - Spring ISD Teacher Arrested After Inappropriate Relationship with Student

Dekaney High School teacher Valerie Lauren Mata has been arrested and charged for having an improper relationship with a student.

The 26-year-old who taught theatre at the school, had a relationship with a student and reportedly asked why she was being arrested when the kid she was involved with was 18.

The relationship between the two reportedly started in the student’s junior year when he ‘mistakenly’ sent her a s*xually explicit text message meant for someone else.

When Mata saw the text, she asked the student if he ‘wanted to have s*x with her?’

By his senior year the two had graduated to a s*xual relationship, exchanging graphic conversations, pictures and videos.

Mata advised the student to delete the messages when they got too explicit and also advised him to change her contact name to someone else.

Police also obtained security footage from the school from March which included Mata entering the rehearsal theater alone and shortly after the student entered. The student told investigators a sex act occurred during their time together that day.

Later that month, the parents of a friend of the student’s learned about the conversations Mata was having. Those parents reported what they found to the school.

Spring ISD released a statement on the incident:

Over the Spring Break holiday, we were made aware of a report of inappropriate conduct between a Dekaney High School staff member and a student. Immediately upon returning on Monday, March 18, a conference was held with the staff member, and she subsequently resigned effective that same day.

An investigation into the allegations was promptly launched by both the Spring ISD Police Department and our Human Resources Department. Yesterday afternoon, the former staff member was arrested on a felony warrant issued by the Harris County DA’s Office.

The district takes every allegation of educator misconduct seriously and will take all measures necessary to ensure that students are educated in safe and nurturing environments. This includes full cooperation with all law enforcement agencies to ensure justice is fully served.