State board spares ex-Rockwall coach after punishment pushup case

The State Board for Educator Certification refused to revoke former Rockwall-Heath coach John Harrell’s certificate, even after an administrative law judge found the punishment pushup workout reckless enough to cause student bodily injury. The unanimous April 24 vote left Harrell, once the head football coach and athletic campus coordinator at Rockwall-Heath High School, with his teaching license intact.

The case traces back to Jan. 6, 2023, when Rockwall-Heath athletes were ordered to do hundreds of pushups as punishment for minor infractions during an offseason workout. Later reporting said at least 26 Rockwall ISD students were diagnosed with or reported symptoms of rhabdomyolysis, a serious muscle condition that can become life-threatening. Harrell resigned March 1, 2023, after a third-party investigation commissioned by Rockwall ISD concluded the workouts were recklessly implemented and endangered students’ health.

State discipline rules are written to put student safety first. SBEC says its mission is to protect the safety and welfare of Texas schoolchildren, and its rules allow permanent revocation when an educator intentionally, knowingly or recklessly causes bodily injury to a student. Yet the board voted to apply “no sanction” and modified the judge’s findings, despite the Texas Education Agency’s recommendation to revoke Harrell’s certificate.

The board’s action came after TEA said in May 2025 that it was “prosecuting a complaint” against Harrell and had placed an investigatory flag on his certificate. It also followed a Rockwall County lawsuit filed Dec. 23, 2024, by Valencia Smith on behalf of her son, naming Harrell and 12 assistant coaches and seeking $250,000 in damages. The suit alleged the athletes were forced to perform nearly 400 pushups in about an hour without rest or water. A separate Texas Department of Family and Protective Services investigation was closed with no abuse or neglect finding.

At the April 24 meeting, Vice Chair Julia Dvorak, who presided in the absence of Chair Courtney MacDonald, called the episode an “unfortunate situation” and said Harrell did not intend harm and later visited injured athletes in the hospital. For Rockwall parents, the ruling leaves a larger question hanging over Rockwall ISD and Texas school athletics: when a workout crosses into hospitalization, is educator discipline being enforced with enough force to match the harm?