U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould announced the agreement Tuesday. It resolves federal civil claims related to reporting requirements for a special education grant that ran from 2022 through 2024. Dallas ISD accepted responsibility and agreed to change how it handles misconduct investigations, according to Raybould.

Federal officials said Roell faced four separate investigations involving alleged misconduct or abuse of minors while he worked for the district. Raybould said Dallas ISD did not report the cases to state officials, leaving no public record of misconduct available to other school districts when Roell left.

In one case, a boy told school officials in September 2023 that Roell had sexually abused him at a Boy Scout camp in Athens, in East Texas. The student also alleged Roell had touched other boys while serving as a scout leader. Those are allegations; the settlement does not establish criminal guilt.

Raybould said Dallas ISD gave Roell the choice to resign or face termination. A resignation kept his name on an internal district do-not-hire list, while termination would have involved the school board and a public review. Roell later worked for Forney ISD and is now facing a grand jury indictment related to allegations that he and a Forney administrator tried to circumvent hiring safeguards.

Raybould also said Dallas ISD hired Roell despite his prior dismissal from Garland ISD, where he had been accused of touching a student and watching students in a restroom.

Under the settlement, Dallas ISD must require employees, contractors and volunteers to disclose findings against them, including civil findings. Background checks must account for pending and settled civil cases. The district must also share information across its departments, including with school principals and assistant principals, and involve outside law enforcement in educator-misconduct investigations.

Raybould said information about Roell had been kept in separate administrative channels and that allegations had been referred to Dallas ISD’s own police department, allowing them to be routed internally. The district will also be required to conduct training and improve coordination.

The settlement comes as federal authorities investigate misconduct reporting practices at other North Texas school districts. Raybould said many districts do not know they are under investigation, and urged superintendents to disclose past failures. He said many inquiries began with reports from parents and teachers.

The case is part of Project Safe Schools, a federal initiative launched in August with the Texas Education Agency and local, state and federal law-enforcement agencies. The TEA has opened more than 9,700 educator-misconduct investigations in the past two years, resulting in more than 590 disciplinary actions and more than 480 educators being added to a registry intended to prevent their hiring elsewhere, Raybould said.