12 Families Sue TLCA San Angelo Over Athlete Punishment

SAN ANGELO, TX — A dozen families have filed a lawsuit against Texas Leadership Charter Academy in San Angelo and several of its administrators and coaches, alleging systemic child abuse, gross negligence and a coordinated cover-up after about 20 student-athletes suffered potentially life-threatening injuries during a February punishment session. 

The lawsuit, filed in the 193rd State District Court in Dallas County by Waco law firm Cherry Johnson Seigmund James, names as defendants the charter school, four administrators, two former coaches and two current coaches who have since been reassigned to other duties, according to a KWTX report. 

It alleges the injuries resulted from a “brutal and predatory physical punishment regimen.” The plaintiffs are seeking at least $500,000 per student plus punitive damages. 

According to the suit, on Feb. 25, 2026, the head football coach ordered about 80 students to perform continuous, whistle-driven push-ups for an entire class period — roughly 45 minutes or more — without water, rest or breaks. Students estimated they completed between 300 and 420 push-ups while five coaches walked among them, allegedly berating any child who showed signs of fatigue. 

The following day, students allegedly returned to school in agony, many unable to raise their arms to eat, brush their teeth or dress themselves, the lawsuit says. Despite this, coaches required them to continue the push-ups for two more days. 

Twenty children were hospitalized between Feb. 27 and March 2. Many were diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis, a serious condition caused by rapid skeletal muscle breakdown that can lead to kidney and organ damage, the suit states. 

The pretext for the mass punishment was a “jersey mix-up” in which two students were assigned the same jersey number — an error caused by the coaches themselves, according to the lawsuit. 

Waco attorney Ryan Johnson said his firm filed the suit in Dallas because at least two defendants live in Dallas County.

“What happened at Texas Leadership Charter Academy represents one of the most appalling cases of institutional child abuse we have ever seen,” Johnson told the news outlet. “These coaches did not just cross a line — they obliterated it. They used physical exercise as a weapon against children, pushed them to the point of organ failure, and then the administration tried to cover it up, silence the families, and even attempted to force parents to sign away their children’s legal rights as a condition of returning to school.” 

The lawsuit alleges school officials did not contact any families after the hospitalizations and instead went into “cover-up mode.” It claims administrators quietly reassigned the coaches, inserted liability waivers into next year’s registration forms and instructed employees to delete incriminating emails.