A state ethics board has voted to discipline a Shiloh High School teacher of the year accused of having a sex with a student and lowering his grade when their affair went sour.
The former English teacher, Keenon Aampay Hall, who resigned last spring during a Gwinnett schools investigation, will receive sanctions against her teaching credentials for professional misconduct.
The Georgia Professional Standards Commission ruled this week that Hall violated the Code of Ethics for Educators and should be punished. Sanctions range from warning letters to revocation of a teacher's license. State officials, however, will not reveal what sanction they imposed on Hall until she has exhausted her right to appeal. Hall has 30 days to accept or fight the punishment.
“The Professional Standards Commission generally does not allow educators to continue their teaching career when the allegation is that the educator was involved in a sexual relationship with a student,” said John Grant, chief investigator for the PSC.
Hall could not be reached for comment.
Sex between teachers and students is the most common form of professional misconduct that can lead to teachers losing their licenses in Georgia. A recent revision in state law makes it a crime for teachers to have sex with students in 12th grade or lower, regardless of the student's age or willingness. As many as 50 teachers are disciplined for sexual misconduct each year.
Hall was accused of seducing a 17-year-old football player who came to her for homework help, sparking a six-month affair that allegedly included trysts in a hotel room and a classroom, under-aged drinking and the viewing of pornography.
The student, who graduated in May, claimed that Hall gave him gifts and pressured him to commit to their relationship by giving her a baby. When he declined, the student's family said, Hall gave him a failing grade, prompting him to report the relationship to school officials.
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