Teacher fired for porn work could see pay revoked

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The Oxnard School District Board of Trustees is expected to make a decision Wednesday on whether to revoke a middle school teacher’s pay after discovering that she had previously appeared in pornographic films.

Earlier this month, Stacie Halas, 32, was found unfit to teach eighth-grade science at Haydock Intermediate School by the Commission on Professional Competence, which ordered her dismissal.

Although Halas filmed the pornographic scenes before she was employed at the middle school -- between 2005 and 2006 -– the ongoing availability of the videos will impede her ability to be an effective teacher, wrote Judge Julie Cabos-Owen.

The board of trustees fired Halas in April after students discovered the pornographic films she had appeared in, a district spokesman said.

School officials argued at the time that her past would continue to be an issue because students would be distracted by the adult films.

Halas should have disclosed her past when she applied to work at the district, said Tom DeLapp, a spokesman for the school district.

‘She repeatedly and consciously had a pattern of lies and cover-ups when asked about it by her employers,’ DeLapp said. ‘She would say ‘I didn’t do it’ or would create other lies to try and minimize the damage.’ Halas appealed the decision to the Commission on Professional Competence, which ruled against her.

Richard Schwab, Halas’ attorney, disagreed with the commission’s findings.

‘I’m very disappointed,’ he said. ‘We believe Ms. Halas was very honest and forthright but extremely nervous and embarrassed by her past. She’s obviously very disappointed and hurt.’

Halas has not decided whether to appeal the commission’s order. She is on administrative leave, pending the decision by the school district Wednesday.

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-- Adolfo Flores