NEED TO KNOW
- A parent says her son sometimes spent entire class days playing games on his iPad in James McGann’s classroom
- She says her son also reported watching the World Cup during class and that McGann showed favoritism toward female students
- She claims her son told her McGann gave candy and drinks only to certain girls, hosted them for lunch in his classroom, and was seen tickling them
A parent whose child was taught by a teacher now accused of fatally stabbing a married couple in an Arkansas state park says he displayed concerning behavior toward female students and poor teaching practices when he worked at a Texas elementary school.
Andrew James McGann, 28, was arrested on Wednesday, July 30, and formally charged Friday, Aug. 1, with capital murder in connection with the deaths of Clinton David Brink, 43, and his wife, Cristen Amanda Brink, 41, at Devil’s Den State Park on Saturday, July 26.
Two of the Brinks’ children, ages 7 and 9, who were with them, were not injured and are safe with family members, police said. McGann is being held without bond.
McGann taught fourth grade at Donald Elementary School in Flower Mound, Texas, during the 2022-2023 school year. It was there that Lindsay Polyak met McGann. Her son would spend a part of the day on some Fridays in McGann’s classroom, and would always share his experiences with her when he got home from school.
Polyak said her son sometimes came home saying he’d spent the day playing games on his iPad in McGann’s class. On another occasion, he reported watching the World Cup there — prompting her to question the quality of education he was receiving from McGann.
Polyak also says her son told her that McGann would display favoritism toward female students.
“My son would come home and tell me, ‘Mom, Mr. McGann gives out lots of candy, but he only gives it to the girls. Mr. McGann brought Sonic drinks today, but only for girls in class, only for special girls that he really likes,'” Polyak tells PEOPLE.
She says she also was told by other parents at the time that McGann would have some girls in his classroom during lunch periods.
“He would have these lunches during the time when the other kids would go to the cafeteria, where he allowed girls to stay behind and have lunch with him in his classroom alone,” she alleges, adding that her son also told her he observed McGann tickling girls.
While she did not personally file a complaint with administrators or the superintendent, Polyak says other parents did, and a formal investigation was launched.
The Lewisville Independent School District in Texas said McGann was placed on administrative leave in spring 2023 while an internal investigation was conducted into classroom management, professional judgment and student favoritism.
In a message this week to the school community, the district said that its investigation determined that McGann’s “classroom management and professional judgment” were below the district’s expectations, but that there was no evidence of inappropriate behavior with any student. McGann resigned in May 2023.
“The district should not have allowed him to resign,” Polyak says. “They should have taken some sort of disciplinary measure and potentially terminated him, something that would have gone on his record, where when he went to apply at the next school, when they would call for employment verification that they would find out.”
The district did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Authorities said there is no indication McGann knew Clinton and Cristen Brink. A motive is unclear.
After leaving Texas, McGann taught at a school in Oklahoma for about a year and was hired as a teacher at a public school in Arkansas but had not yet started.
McGann did not enter a plea at his hearing on Friday morning.