OXNARD, Calif. — Stacie Halas, the eighth-grade science teacher fired in April by the Oxnard School District for having a pornographic past, faces testimony this week from Haydock Intermediate School officials looking to thwart her appeal.
The hearing, which began on Monday, is being held at the Oxnard Performing Arts Center and is expected to go on for eight days. Judge Julie Cabos-Owen is leading the panel of administrative judges who will decide if Halas can return to teaching.
Halas, who admits to performing as Tiffany Six in a string of adult videos between the years of 2005 and 2006, prior to her career as an educator, is represented by lawyer Richard Schwab, who told the panel on Tuesday that Halas had turned a new leaf and that "this is a case about change, redemption, reform."
Chaka Okadigbo, attorney for the Oxnard School District, argued that redemption had little to do with the potential harm Halas' pornographic past could have on the students and the academic environment at Haydock Intermediate School.
"Counsel keeps talking about redemption," Okadigbo said. "That's his theory. It's still important to the district to talk about the effects of the videos on campus."
According to VCStar.com, the district then showed a non-explicit scene from a porn video in which Halas reveals that she is a teacher and that doing porn is "very risky." The footage was not shown to the media, but it was described by witnesses, who also said that Haydock students had seen the interview and the sex scenes that followed.
Halas, in a behind-the-scenes interview included in the 2006 Jules Jordan Video "No Cum Dodging Allowed 7," tells director Mike John that doing porn is "very risky for me cause I am a teacher."
Haydock Assistant Principal Mary Arias testified on Tuesday that students were visibly upset and cried after being exposed to the X-rated videos featuring Halas.
"The incident was so destructive. It was really hard to stabilize the campus," Arias told the panel.
Jeff Chancer, superintendent for the Oxnard School District, provided testimony on Wednesday in which he stressed that he called for Halas' termination not because she performed in adult videos, but because she continuously lied about it when confronted.
Halas is expected to testify later in the week.
