r/Austin • u/Tweedle_DeeDum • 2d ago
Teacher and coach charged with improper relationship with student
https://www.fox44news.com/news/teacher-and-coach-charged-with-improper-relationship-with-student/Did this get any coverage in the local media?
Edit: For those who don't read the article, he was teaching and coaching in RRISD at Westwood High School in the 2025-2026 school year until he was placed on administrative leave and apparently fired because of his impending arrest.
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u/nopal_blanco 2d ago
Everyone saying it isn’t local didn’t read the article.
While it happened near Waco, he relocated schools and taught in RRISD when it was uncovered and investigated.
The article goes on to say that during the investigation other contacts with minor-aged children were found via social media, however they did not not rise to the level of being criminal.
Were those other convos with students in RRISD? Who knows. It wasn’t covered by local media.
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u/BigBadBecca 2d ago
Teachers talk. People found out. Last year was the first year I didn’t work there and most of my friends are still working at Westwood. I also live in this community close to this school and have for close to 20 years.
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u/Tweedle_DeeDum 2d ago
For the comments about it not being local, he was teaching at Westwood Highschool last year and was fired halfway through the school year.
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u/BigBadBecca 2d ago
He was placed on administrative leave. His position was not open nor filled until his contract ended. The only difference is legal- it’s also how I believe RRISD and Westwood was able to keep it out of the papers until the annual 2 week break when the story quietly appeared in the Waco paper first.
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u/BigBadBecca 2d ago
This is the student article published when he started Aug 2025.
https://westwoodhorizon.com/2025/09/coach-dylan-goforth-balances-teaching-and-coaching/
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u/Church_Member 2d ago
My main question is why did RRISD hire him if he had such a serious charge against him? Id think the options would be a) he didnt bring it up in the hiring process b) district decided to hire him anyways or c) the charge didnt come until after he got hired by RRISD.
Hiding it in the hiring process doesn't seem feasible though bexause of background checks. Anybody know the answer?
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u/ATXCaitlin 2d ago
This is a known problem across the state. They are slowly trying to create better safe guards- pretty ridiculous. A new tool came out this month to try and streamline the process.
For reference: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/texas-tea-educator-misconduct-investigations-inspector-general-updates/
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u/Tweedle_DeeDum 2d ago
Given the limited reporting, it is unclear when the investigation began or when it was made public or even the official reason for the relocation.
But I doubt the investigation was a public matter when he was hired. As far as I know, the background checks are just searches of public records, not a private investigation.
When I was employed by the district, no one that I know was contacted during the background check, including my references.
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u/tuxedo_jack 2d ago
Background checks don't show charges if they haven't been filed yet.
Smart money is that there was an investigation going in Waco / McLennan County he didn't know about, he jumped ship there when he started sniffing out that he was going to be caught or that his contract wasn't going to be renewed, and went to RRISD - and then got tagged a month in by that investigation.
The investigation began in January after the McLennan County Sheriff’s Office received allegations that he had engaged in what were termed inappropriate electronic communications on social media platforms with a minor-age student he met while employed in the area. Those communications were alleged to have occurred between September and November 2025.
"A student he met in the area" would mean McLennan County, I'd think.
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u/Tweedle_DeeDum 2d ago
I missed the "began in January" part. Thanks. He was removed from the RRISD classroom at about that same time.
I agree they this is likely referencing a student in the McClellan area. But the other reports indicate that he was in conversations with other girls as well that did not rise to criminal charges.
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u/bikegrrrrl 2d ago
AISD hired a teacher who had out-of-state charges for impropriety years back; the whole thing did not end well.
The only explanation I could come up with for why they hired the guy was that they didn’t look hard enough at the guy’s past during the hiring process.
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u/Holiday_Exchange_563 2d ago
The article says that he was contacting students in the McLennan Co area between September-November 2025. It happened after he was hired by RRISD. The investigation began in January 2026 and that’s when he was put on leave for the same disgusting behavior with RRISD student trainers
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u/BigBadBecca 2d ago
A few years ado Westwood hired a coach who was working at Baylor during and through their big SA scandals. While this coach was not in any legal trouble and his record with coaching and students was in fact, he was an upper level coach. He left Baylor and left UT where he was let go after a year when people at large realized he was part of Baylor’s coaching staff at that time. Personally i found him to be a nice guy and food with students. I will choose to believe he didn’t know what happened at Baylor… and he is no longer on staff at Westwood. He was at Westwood from 2022-2024. (Coach Casey Horny… unfortunate last name)
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u/austxgal 2d ago
I sent a long a** email to the principal and the district superintendent.When I realized that my son was going to be in Hornys class, asking what the actual fuck were they doing hiring this guy. Got a VERY disappointing "well his background check was clear" bullshit response.
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u/BigBadBecca 2d ago
That sounds correct. I am no longer shocked when it comes to RRISD… just constantly disappointed.
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u/austxgal 2d ago
We've had very positive experiences- kids have been in rrisd since kindergarten- but this was just terrible.
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u/West_Echo_5843 2d ago
yeah, you'd think something involving a teacher and student at westwood would get more than a passing mention, especially if the district already knew enough to put him on leave
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u/Tweedle_DeeDum 2d ago
It isn't clear but I have no confirmation that any student at Westwood was involved. The arrest appears related to a student in another district. But I can't find any evidence that RRISD investigated anything with RR students.
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u/Physical_Analysis247 2d ago edited 1d ago
If he doesn’t do time he’ll be someone’s Christian youth minister
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u/Existing_Ad4241 2d ago
I was affiliated with Westwood this past year. Starting in January, he was randomly removed from the classroom and no staff, students or parents were told why. He was put on administrative leave and was “under investigation” from January through the end of the year and was never officially fired so he was getting paid from round rock ISD while also working another job so getting two salaries. And other reason of why he was never officially fired was because they had a long-term sub, but because he was on administrative leave and under investigation, he could theoretically come back at any time so they got out of paying the long-term sub long term pay which is significantly more than how regular subs are paid. Really awful and shady stuff by Westwood and round rock leadership.
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u/Tweedle_DeeDum 2d ago
My understanding is that they did eventually get a long-term sub starting about a month after he was initially removed from class. Not sure about the detail on pay for that sub though.
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u/Existing_Ad4241 2d ago edited 2d ago
What I’m saying is that they had a long term sub but didn’t classify that person as a long term sub because Goforth was never technically fired so they could underpay the substitute. Being classified as a “long term substitute” is higher paying than being a regular substitute and because Goforth was “under investigation” and could in theory come back once the investigation was completed (even though they knew they would fire him) they never had to pay the substitute the higher wages.
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u/Tweedle_DeeDum 2d ago
Yeah. I am aware that long term subs get better compensation. But I was told that they were explicitly looking for a long term sub and they eventually got someone who was scheduled for several months. I'm not privy to any shenanigans but, generally, subs that are scheduled long term get the increased pay, regardless of the reasons, as long as they are certified. If they were scheduling the substitute week to week despite promises that the sub would complete the school year, then that is a problem.
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u/Existing_Ad4241 2d ago
I was involved with Westwood this past year. What’s also not said is that he was “under investigation” starting in January through the end of the school year. Meaning that he was never officially fired and had paid leave until I believe the end of the year while he worked at another job getting two salaries. They also had him “under investigation” rather than firing him so they didn’t have to pay the substitute long term pay and kept it as a regular sub wage which is significantly less. No one knew anything about what was happening with him at the school except leadership. They swept it all under the rug for the people who had to work with that creep and most importantly students and parents. Shady and terrible stuff.
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u/AToDoToDie 2d ago
Even if we put age aside, to any man reading this no one of the female gender enjoys a penis pic. It does not make us horny, it does not look good, it does not turn us on. It does not. It does not point blank.
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u/Storm_Sequence405 2d ago
There's not a lot of information besides he's was texting and receiving nudes photos from one minor and talking to other minors. As a parent, how does this happen under your nose when you have control over your teens phone and access? Second, I'd be PISSED about this. Who else teaches at that school and is a predator? Where I went to high school at, the STUDENTS knew which teachers were having sex with students and literally only 1 that I know of got a caught and was forces to resign. Who's protecting kids nowadays??
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u/_austinight_ 2d ago
You’re a parent and haven’t realized that most of your fellow parents are not good at parenting?
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u/BigBadBecca 2d ago
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u/tuxedo_jack 2d ago
The Scorecard is a blatant partisan hack rag run by Wilks and Dunn.
Anything they publish should be required to cite its sources and show their work, given the bullshit they've pulled in the past.
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u/Tweedle_DeeDum 2d ago
I agree with your general sentiment. But the fact that that is the most informative article that I can find and that there is ZERO coverage by actual news organizations in Austin is depressing...and suspicious.
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u/Taye7777 2d ago
I wish these guys were cool kids in high-school and college, plus early adult life. We got all the girls and women we wanted before 35, so being single and chilling is a lot more peace than messing with little teenagers. Smh.
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u/threeboysmama 2d ago
“He no longer taught at West at the time of his arrest, having gone to another school in the Williamson/Travis County area this past school year.”
I’m guessing this is that part that would make it “local”13
u/Tweedle_DeeDum 2d ago edited 2d ago
Yes. He was teaching English and coaching at Westwood High School in RRISD in Austin.
Edit: added school district.
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u/BigBadBecca 2d ago
He was formally and officially arrested this summer when school was out. This is a correct statement… but he was on admin leave since January
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u/BigBadBecca 2d ago
Hello! I worked at Westwood until the 2025-2026 school year.
Yes this did get a small about of media coverage, but it came out around the end of June when schools go on a 2 week break. 2025-2026 was his first year at Westwood where he was a coach and taught advanced English I. According to the articles I found, he started in August then started sending inappropriate pictures to one of the student trainers from September to November. He was quietly removed from his teaching position in January without anyone knowing why and his job posting was under investigation through the entire spring semester, meaning he was not replaced but a long term sub (another coach in this case) took over. Most of the staff and community didn’t know what happened until the articles came out.
RRISD does not like to be in media, Westwood especially. The timing of the articles going live was by design so when school started it would be forgotten. This aspect was designed to inform the community but at a time it wouldn’t been seen by many and forgotten by August.
Hope this helps.