Ex-Kentucky teacher fired again over past in porn

ST. LOUIS — A St. Louis-area school district that placed a high school teacher on leave after learning she acted in pornographic films in the 1990s had no idea she was fired by a Kentucky school district for the same reason, a district spokeswoman said Wednesday.

Parkway School District officials had called the woman's previous employer in Kentucky to check her references before she was hired four years ago, and nothing was said about her losing her teaching job there because of her work in the porn industry, the spokeswoman said.

The teacher spoke to her principal Friday, and the district accepted her request to be placed on administrative leave for the rest of the school year. She had previously told the district that she didn't plan to return in the fall.

The woman, 38, was going by the name Tericka Dye when Kentucky's McCracken County school system learned she had appeared in adult films in the mid-1990s. She was suspended, and the district later declined to renew her teaching contract.

The case drew national attention after she appeared on television with Dr. Phil McGraw to discuss what happened. She now goes by a different name.

McCracken County schools spokeswoman Molly Goodman said Wednesday she could only confirm the woman previously worked in the district and her contract wasn't renewed. She said she couldn't comment on whether details of her past were disclosed to the St. Louis-area district.

When the films were made, Dye has said, she was living in California, working as an exotic dancer, suffering from untreated bipolar disorder and desperately in need of money.

This story was originally published March 10, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Ex-Kentucky teacher fired again over past in porn."