Midland Christian releases statement on recent indictments

MIDLAND, Texas (KOSA) - Midland Christian School released a statement Friday afternoon regarding the former administrators and current teacher who were indicted by a grand jury this week.

According to the statement, the school is “intensely disappointed and frustrated” by the indictments.

Read the full statement by MCS below:

“Yesterday we learned that one of our employees, Matt Counts, along with two of our former employees, Jared Lee and Dana Ellis, were indicted on charges initiated by the Midland Police Department regarding an accident at school unrelated to the prior false charges that were dismissed in May. The accusations for these new charges were known prior to Wednesday’s Grand Jury decision, but we are intensely disappointed and frustrated by the decision to bring an indictment. We know Matt to be an upstanding member of the Midland community, an excellent teacher, coach, and mentor to our students and MCS families. The charges brought against Matt, Jared, and Dana are false based on the facts as we know them and we stand in complete support of an aggressive defense of their innocence. The Board of Trustees has diligently worked through the proper channels to ensure that Matt is allowed to remain on our campus, serving in his role as an educator and coach, while he awaits due process. We trust in the Lord and maintain our faith that He will be glorified through this tough situation. We pray that we see His deliverance for the people we care about to come quickly and solicit your support and prayers for the Counts, Lee, and Ellis families. As information becomes available, the Board of Trustees, along with President Anderson, will continue to update the Midland Christian School community. "

This statement comes after two former administrators, Dana Ellis and Jared Lee, and a current teacher, Matthew Counts were indicted by a grand jury for failure to make a required child abuse report, after an incident that occurred in November of 2021.