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In a statement Wednesday, Katy Independent School District officials said Phillip Vassell –a former teacher in the district facing allegations of inappropriate contact with a child — has now been charged with two counts of sexual assault of a child.

Vassell is listed on a district Web page as a former assistant band director at Katy High School.

According to the Harris County officials, Vassell is accused of sexually assaulting a female student at Katy High School four times between June and July in 2008.

You can read more about it here.

School district spokesman Steve Stanford issued the following statement in response to the Wednesday charges:

Upon becoming aware on Nov. 10 of allegations that Vassell was engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a student, administrators responded by removing him from campus and placing him on administrative leave. Vassell later resigned on his own on Nov. 13. The Katy ISD Police Department has been actively investigating these allegations and presented its evidence to the district attorney’s office earlier today.

I was going to write a letter filled with insight about the impeachment hearings, but first I'm compelled to write about the Katy Tigers football team. It's certainly sad and regrettable to see a remarkably successful season with great expectations for even great accomplishments suddenly erased -- not by their performance on the field, but from a seemingly minor mistake.

I heard it said that this incident is an example of how unfair life is. But I hope that's not what the Tigers take from this experience. A better lesson is that there are rules in life, most carrying penalties, so it's essential to consider the potential consequences for each and every action.

I admire the teacher and officials who were able to resist the tremendous popularity and community support for the team and were able to lead the investigation and report the problem to the authorities.

It's too bad President Bill Clinton didn't have a similar opportunity to learn this lesson while he was in high school.

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Regarding the Katy Tigers' being disqualified from the state championship football playoffs, one thing keeps ringing clearly in my mind: That is what happens to "real people" in the "real" world.

Over the past year I have struggled with the fact that my children see our nation's leaders doing wrong repeatedly and never paying for the consequences of their wrongdoing. I have wondered if our children truly understand that there are consequences to be paid - there are harsh realities of life visited on the common person.

We have no political clout, no wealth or fancy attorneys protecting the average American. The Page One Chronicle article (Dec. 19, "Katy team disqualified for title game; Player ruled ineligible on eve of contest") said, "If a [University Interscholastic League] rule is violated, and when you are talking about no-pass, no-play, there is no range, no interpretation - there is no leeway." Oh how I wish our nations' laws were so clear.

I wish our nation's leaders could see Coach Mike Johnston recognize the wrong, admit it, report it to the UIL authorities, then accept and carry out the consequence with dignity and integrity. No politics, no party bickering, just doing what is right. The youth of Katy have just witnessed "world-class leadership."

Maybe some good will come from this terrible situation. I am so proud of the Katy Tigers. Real life is hard, but real people persevere. May you find strength and comfort form seeing real leadership, character and integrity right here in our own little town.

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As the registrar at a public high school who deals with University Interscholastic League eligibility at three-week intervals throughout the semester, I think the Katy High School's coaching staff and the school's administration must share in the responsibility with the offending student for the eligibility error.

Why do coaches ask the students to prove their eligibility? Isn't that a little like asking a fox to guard a hen house? And further, why not post a list of eligible or ineligible students (based on teacher -- not student-input) every three weeks? Then each coach and/or sponsor of a UIL activity could check the list to determine which students are eligible for the next three-week period. The students should never be a part of this process.

Why has Katy had three eligibility concerns in two months? What part of the UIL do the coaches not understand? Perhaps the coaches at Katy and their staff need some in-service training about UIL requirements and procedures.

I was disconcerted also by the Katy coach's idea that the team should have been allowed to compete now and take the punishment next year. The teacher who spoke up, knowing the possible dire consequences to the team and the school, did the right thing.

And, as to the question whether or not the student who falsified his grades should be punished? You bet. Why is there any discussion?

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I was dismayed by Katy's disqualification from the state football playoffs. I was amazed that everyone seems to be placing the full blame for the incident on the student for falsifying grades. As a teacher at another high school, I wonder why the coach wasn't sharing the blame? Teachers turn in their grades at the end of each grading period and it is the coaches' responsibility to get those grades and check the eligibility of their players.

I am amazed that after already having some eligibility problems this semester, the coaches did not double-check all eligibilities. The responsibility for this incident belongs to the coaches - they are the adults in this situation.

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The Katy football team's removal from state competition provides a poignant parallel to the concurrent impeachment hearings in Washington. By reporting the dishonest player, the Katy High School administrators admitted they brought their forfeiture on themselves.

It is unfortunate, that the entire team must suffer the consequence of one player's choice to take a dishonest course of action, but that is the nature and definition of a team.

It is also why we must take whatever steps are necessary and appropriate to see that dishonest political leaders are removed from office when their transgressions are exposed, so that the country they represent is not brought down with them.

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The sanction imposed upon the Katy Tigers was egregiously unfair. The errant player's alleged violation was a private matter involving only his teacher and his parents--it did not interfere one bit with the teams' playing performance and clearly did not rise to the level of complete elimination from the playoffs.

Misleading your parents about bad grades is something everybody does at one time or another. Certainly a poll of Katy citizens would indicate that punishing the entire team was unreasonably extreme.

This horror has torn the town apart. Complete disqualification just for a little cheating - what sort of lesson does that teach to our children?

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No championship game for Katy this year and all because our state enjoys punishing the whole team for the failures of individuals. I do not believe that any sport or group activity is more important than the education of our students, but it is possible to punish an individual without punishing the team and community.

The result of the no pass, no play rule, as it exists today is not educational in nature. It is unfortunate, for all of the students and community members of Katy that the law does not mandate required tutorials for failing students. It is just too easy to eliminate and destroy the dreams of conscientious and law-abiding students in the name of education.

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I was taken aback by the comments of the Katy High School principal, Robert Blankenship, about Katy's football team experiencing the unfairness of life. Excuse me, but how is the imposition of a consequence for a clear violation of the law in any way unfair?

Every Texas public school educator who deals with the University Interscholastic League knows what the rules are and what the consequences are when the rules are not followed.

One football player made a selfish and unwise choice when he decided to forge his teacher's signature on a progress report in order to mask his ineligibility. It was a bad choice because it was in clear violation of UIL rules and it was a selfish choice, because the player put his own desire to play above his team.

Now the team, the school and the surrounding community is paying for his choice. It is unfortunate that we live in a society which teaches young people that rules are made to be broken and that the consequence of breaking a rule is an "example of life not being fair."

I am sorry that Katy's students are learning the hard way about actions and consequences, but I am even more sorry about the lessons being taught by the officials of Katy High.

The principal was right: Life is not fair. But , in reality, facing the consequences of one's actions is most certainly fair.

Katy's students would be better served with leadership who could acknowledge that mistakes were made and then accept the consequences with grace and dignity rather than crying out "foul!"

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Here is a Christmas-New Year's essage for the Katy High School football player who forged grades and signatures on a progress report and got his team disqualified from the state championship game:

You have never met us, and we don't know anything about you except what news reports have said, and they have focused mostly upon the consequences of your mistake in judgment.

We have read all about all the disappointment in your school and town when the Tigers seemed right on track to win the state championship again until your mistake cause a derail just before the final game.

Some of us are worried about you because we know firsthand what it is like to foul up. We know what it feels like to do something or say soething or write something that seems preety innocent and simple and little at the time, but then explodes into something big and complicated and hurtful.

It is maybe a bit like striking a match thinking you are only going to set off a little bottle rocket. But then that rocket lands on a wood shingle roof and starts a fire and the wind spreads it to other roofs and .....

What a tough spot to be in, causing damages you can't repair, breaking something you can't fix. But some mistakes, those that spread and affect a lot of people are like that. You can't unstrike a match, however much you might want to.

Some of know how difficult it can be to get over causing a big mess, to get past the remmorse and start looking ahead again. Any time a lot of people are disappointed because of something you did, a percentage of them will neither forgive or forget. They can make it tough on you for a long time.

And in addition to being worried about you, some of us are feeling a little guilty about your situation. Oh, we aren't saying you don't have to shoulder the responsibility for what you did. You do.

But adults, including some who should serve as role models, doon't always set bery good examples in the way they deal with their own mistakes in judgement. That pretty well summarizes the situation in Washington right now.

Some of us are asking ourselves why it occurred to you to try that bit of deceit. Why did you think you could get away with it? Why did you believe the end-getting to play with your team-justified the means-forging that grade report?

We are worried that we all have combined to make a society that puts too much emphasis upon winning contests and too little upon building character Just look, for example, at our expensive political races and how the winner often is the one who makes the most promises that can't be kept and spends the most on commercials; and how we sometimes have trouble telling the difference between campaign donations and bribes.

Former Katy band teacher faces two charges of sexual assault