Gunter ISD board agenda lists proposal to end Daryl Hellman's contract
The Sept. 21 agenda does not describe an investigation, findings or a vote. The available primary-source information does not fully verify the investigation claim.
A Gunter ISD board agenda for Sept. 21, 2026, lists a proposal to end the contract of Daryl Hellman midyear, or decline to renew it, and to suspend him without pay pending termination, according to the district's posted meeting documents. The district announced Hellman as its head baseball coach in 2021.
The agenda does not describe an investigation, establish any findings or record a vote. The available primary-source information does not fully verify the claim that an investigation is under way.
Gunter ISD's August 2021 newsletter said Hellman joined the district in 2018 as an assistant coach in baseball, football and basketball, and announced his appointment as head baseball coach. The newsletter said he had earlier worked in the Aubrey, Pilot Point, Lake Dallas and Celina school districts.
The UIL's 2024 state-tournament page lists Hellman as Gunter's baseball coach and shows the team entering that tournament at 37-1. It was the program's 10th trip to state. Gunter is in Grayson County, not Cooke County, according to the city's official contact information.
Texas law sets a deadline for some educators facing a proposed mid-contract termination. Under Chapter 21 of the Education Code, a covered teacher generally must ask the education commissioner for a hearing within 15 days of receiving written notice. The parties may agree in writing to extend that deadline by up to 10 days.
Time a covered teacher generally has to request a hearing with the education commissioner after written notice of a proposed mid-contract termination
The parties may agree in writing to extend the deadline by up to 10 days.
A district's employment decision is separate from any action on a state certificate. According to the Texas Education Agency, the State Board for Educator Certification can issue a reprimand, restrict a certificate, suspend it, or revoke or cancel certification, including by accepting an educator's surrender of it. The agency says its published disciplinary reports list only final board actions and leave out allegations and pending investigations, so those reports cannot show on their own whether an educator is under investigation.
TEA has added oversight this year. It announced Levi Fuller's appointment on Feb. 4 to a newly created inspector-general position that oversees investigation decisions, certification sanctions, Do Not Hire Registry placements, settlements and case closures. On June 2 it announced an Educator Misconduct Dashboard that tracks reports, investigations, certification-board actions and registry placements separately, as different stages of the process.
Two other districts' published procedures offer a comparison. Neither involves Gunter or Hellman. In a January 2026 board statement, Celina ISD said it retained an independent investigator to avoid concerns about internal bias or conflicts of interest. The investigator interviewed about 39 witnesses and examined district employees' actions surrounding the hiring, retention and termination of Caleb Elliott, the statement said. It added that the review did not investigate the criminal allegations against Elliott.
Dallas ISD's Oct. 5 staff bulletin required administrators and supervisors to report alleged misconduct by employees or service providers internally within two hours on the same day. The bulletin described a 48-hour deadline in state law.
Dallas ISD sets a tighter reporting deadline than state law
Dallas ISD internal deadline
Administrators and supervisors must report alleged employee or service-provider misconduct internally within two hours, on the same day.
District rule
Statutory deadline
48 hours, as described in the Dallas ISD bulletin.
State law
_Editor's note: Everyone charged with a crime is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law._
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