Students remember Vera as the “cool teacher” who let kids at Stovall Middle School use cell phones in class. They also long suspected her to be romantically involved with an eighth-grader.
“That kid was always over (Vera’s house in Spring) and she always told (neighbors) it was her brother,” said one neighbor, who did not want to be identified.
Vera sometimes had as many as five teenage boys over at one time, according to neighbors.
“She was having a lot of kids in her home,” one neighbor said. “There was drinking in the front. We always found beer bottles and beer cans on her side of the lawn and half of the (teens) did not look older than high school, maybe.”
According to court documents, Vera said she and the victim “love each other.” They had sex almost daily for nine months, Vera told investigators, according to court documents. She said the two met in summer school, then grew close the following school year.
During an open house in the fall, Vera claimed she was introduced to the victim’s parents as “his girlfriend.” She also told investigators the boy’s family accepted the relationship, invited her to family gatherings and became “very supportive and excited” when told Vera was pregnant with the victim’s child in January, according to court records.
But when Child Protective Services showed up at the school to question Vera and the victim, she said she got nervous and later had an abortion.
Vera already has a 4-year-old daughter. Neighbors said they have not seen either for days.
A man answered Vera’s door Tuesday and said he did not know where she went. Police issued a warrant for her arrest before she turned herself in on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for Aldine ISD said Vera has been on administrative leave since last month and that the district is in the process of terminating her employment.
In a statement, school district officials said:
Aldine ISD has been made aware that charges have been filed against a former Stovall Middle School teacher involved in inappropriate behavior with a male student. When the allegation was made in April, the teacher was immediately removed from the school and placed on administrative leave. Aldine ISD Police investigated the incident and turned their findings over to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office. The safety and security of Aldine ISD’s students and staff remains a priority of the school district.Vera's bond was set at $100,0
