Former Austin ISD tutor was banned from working in state juvenile detention centers

The person accused of inappropriately touching a student during a tutoring session this semester at Akins High School was banned from working as a juvenile corrections officer for any Texas Juvenile Justice facilities after a 2022 investigation, according to agency officials. 

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The person accused of inappropriately touching a student during a tutoring session this semester at Akins High School was banned from working as a juvenile corrections officer for any Texas Juvenile Justice facilities after a 2022 investigation, according to agency officials. 

Isaiah Xavier Smith, 28, who is charged with indecency with a child by contact, was also a volunteer for the Texas Juvenile Justice Department and juvenile corrections officer at the Giddings School from 2021 to 2022. 

The agency fired Smith after six weeks as a juvenile corrections officer and decided he could not be hired by the agency again after its Office of Inspector General investigated him, according to TJJD officials. The agency has not yet detailed or released the OIG findings to KXAN. 

Smith’s name was also put in the Integrated Certification Information System, or ICIS, which would prompt all county juvenile facilities to call TJJD before hiring him and flag him as ineligible for certification. 

Smith later went on to join Austin Partners in Education, or APIE, a non-profit founded by the Austin ISD and the Austin Chamber of Commerce to provide tutors to more than 100 schools. 

According to district officials, Smith began working as an APIE college readiness tutor at Akins High School in September. 

KXAN found school districts and non-profits do not have access to ICIS; only Texas county probation departments and juvenile facilities have access, according to TJJD. Schools and non-profits running background checks on prospective employees would have to contact TJJD in order to find out about any investigations or flags. 

APIE Executive Director Cathy Jones told KXAN the non-profit would not comment on Smith because of the ongoing investigation. She also did not answer questions about the group’s background check process or if they are flagged when a person is listed as ineligible for certification in ICIS. 

Smith’s tutoring job at Akins lasted fewer than two months. Smith was banned from the campus in late October, according to district officials, after Austin ISD police launched an investigation into allegations he touched a teenage boy’s private parts during a tutoring session. 

The student told police Smith also offered to buy the teen shoes, underwear, and money before the incident, according to court documents. 

Smith was arrested on Dec. 8 on a second-degree felony for indecency with a child by contact. His attorney declined to comment. According to Travis County Sheriff's Office records, Smith remains in jail. 

“Your child’s safety is our greatest concern. We are doing everything we can to understand how this incident occurred to prevent situations like this in the future,” Austin ISD Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Schools Dr. Angel Wilson wrote in a letter to families. 

Since Oct. 25, Smith was not allowed to come onto the Akins High School campus, according to district officials. But over the 44 days leading up to his arrest, Smith was spotted outside multiple Austin ISD campuses carrying a firearm, according to the district’s police chief. 

The Austin Police Department was also called out to St. Francis, a private school for Pre-K through 8th grade students, and the Austin Public Library, where Smith was also seen carrying a long gun and pistol. 

Smith faced no charges related to the episodes outside the schools or library. Carrying a firearm openly is legal in Texas. 

Sam Stark also contributed to this report.