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Reidland High Parents Seek Movie Details

Posted on: Wednesday, 3 May 2006, 06:00 CDT

By Angie Kinsey, The Paducah Sun, Ky.

May 3--Parents of Reidland High School students say they still need a lot of questions answered before making a final judgment on a teacher suspended with pay for allegedly appearing in an adult movie several years ago.

Sources said the teacher is Tericka Dye, a science teacher who was seen on camera in an adult movie made several years ago, before she became a teacher. Dye was suspended Thursday pending an investigation by McCracken County Schools Superintendent Tim Heller.

Parent Paul Duncan said he wants to make sure the allegations are true before forming an opinion. "If it's not true, it would hurt somebody's career," Duncan said. "I want to know when was it done and how long ago. Everybody's personal life is public these days. As an educator, you have to be exemplary role models because you're teaching other people's kids."

Duncan said he has talked about the situation with his son, who was not in Dye's classes. "If she was teaching my kid, I would probably have a little bit of a problem with it," Duncan said. "If it's true, somebody teaching these kids is not a good thing."

Bill O'Brien, a parent who serves on the site-based decision-making council, said no parents have contacted him about Dye. "I think they're waiting to see what the school board and superintendent determine," O'Brien said. "The site-based council doesn't have authority to decide in these kind of issues."

O'Brien said he also wanted to hear more details about the case. "I don't know enough about it to comment," he said. "I've heard from students who really liked her and appreciated the job she did."

Parent Claudia Stoffel said she feels torn about the situation. "I'm really conflicted, to be perfectly honest," she said. "I don't know this woman, and my daughter never had her as a teacher. If she did this a long time ago, then, oh my goodness, she shouldn't be held to a standard of something that happened a long time ago. But what she's done can be viewed by children, and they know about it."

Stoffel said she feels badly for Dye, regardless of the school's decision. "There are a lot of issues," she said. "I feel terrible because her career has probably been ruined, at least in this area. I feel very badly for her because it was a decision she made a long time ago."

According to state law, superintendents had to notify teachers before April 30 if their teaching contract was not renewed for the next school year. Last Thursday was April 27.

Tenured teachers, who have completed four years of continuous service with the same school system, may have their contracts dropped only for a few specific reasons: incompetence, neglect of duty, insubordination, inefficiency, misconduct or immorality. A superintendent can choose not to renew a non-tenured teacher's contract for any reason that does not violate state or federal laws.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Paducah Sun, Ky.

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Source: The Paducah Sun

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