Teacher’s Appeal Withdrawn in Lawsuit: Former Reidland High School Teacher Tericka Dye Has a New Teaching Job Out of State.

By Bill Bartleman, The Paducah Sun, Ky.

Feb. 13– — Tericka Dye has ended her legal battle to regain her job at Reidland High School and has taken a new teaching job in another state.

Dye, whose Reidland teaching contract was not renewed last year after it was learned that she had appeared in pornographic movies 11 years earlier, has agreed to withdraw her appeal of Judge Jeff Hines’ dismissal of her suit against the McCracken County school system.

The agreement, which her attorney says “cleans her record,” was finalized Friday when the Kentucky Court of Appeals dismissed the suit.

Documents obtained by The Paducah Sun under the Kentucky Open Records Law indicated that she had applied for teaching jobs in other states, and was interviewed on Jan. 19 for a teaching position in Florida.

Mark Blankenship, her attorney, said it was his understanding that she had been offered several teaching jobs in several different states, but would not say where she was hired. He also said he didn’t know if she has begun teaching or if she will begin teaching at the start of the next school year.

“She is hoping that all of this is now in the past and she can get on with her life,” Blankenship said. “She loves teaching and is happy that she can be teaching again.”

Dye said she appeared in an adult movie while living in California at a time in her life when she was had personal and financial problems.

However, she said she worked hard to turn her life around, obtain a teaching degree and use her life experiences to help others overcome adversity.

Blankenship said he doesn’t know if Dye’s new employer is aware of her past appearance in adult movies. “I told her to be honest if she had been asked,” Blankenship said.

Blankenship also said he doesn’t know if she’ll use another name in her new teaching position, such as her maiden name. “We did talk about a name change,” he said.

However, her name wasn’t changed in her personnel file from her career in McCracken County.

Superintendent Tim Heller agreed to remove a suspension letter from her record and to give her a certified copy of her complete personnel file, including all evaluations done by her superiors.

Blankenship also had asked that Heller to prepare a reference letter stating that she did an excellent job of teaching. However, Heller refused, saying that he couldn’t provide such a letter because he had never evaluated her, according to documents obtained by the Sun.

Dye was suspended with pay on April 27, 2006, while school officials investigated reports that she had appeared in one or more adult movies.

When officials found evidence the reports were true and that the movie had been watched by some parents and students, she was not allowed to return to the classroom. However, Dye was paid for the rest of the school year. She had been a science teacher and volleyball coach.

At the time, she was an untenured teacher who worked on a one-year contract. McCracken school officials were within three days of issuing her a new contact for the 2006-07 school year.

Blankenship said he wanted the record to reflect what actually took place, which was that she was not fired but that her contract was not renewed.

In the appeal that was dismissed, Blankenship argued that suspending her with pay was done to prevent her from requesting an administrative hearing before a Kentucky Department of Education tribunal. He also argued that it is illegal to use tax money to pay someone for services nor performed.

Dye’s case has gained national attention, and she appeared on several national television talk shows to discuss her life and job at Reidland.

She said repeatedly that she hopes to be an example to others by overcoming tough times and restoring her life by going to college and getting a teaching degree.

—–

Copyright (c) 2007, The Paducah Sun, Ky.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.