Resa Woodward, who taught science at the Young Women’s STEAM Academy at Balch Springs Middle School, was pulled from her classroom on November 29 and fired after word got out that she was an adult film actress more than 16 years ago. The Balch Springs Middle School serves 160,000 students, from pre-K through seniors in high school.
Kind of a bullshit move on the school’s part. Woodward had this history when the school hired her, so they were either too incompetent to find out or just didn’t care. Either way, once they offered her the job the onus should have been placed on them. They should have known what they were getting themselves into.
If I’m a parent with a child at this school, I’m less concerned about the fact that a former porn star is teaching my kid and more concerned with the fact that the school had no idea.
Via Dallas News:
Records obtained by The Dallas Morning News this week show that the district was first made aware of Woodward’s work in the adult film industry after an anonymous tip on March 10. An internal review at the time cleared her of any policy violation.
Woodward said district officials told her then that she could continue teaching unless her previous career became public. That happened this fall.
“I taught in an all-girls STEAM academy that was all about empowerment for women,” Woodward said Tuesday. “The sad thing is that if these girls find out that I’m being punished for something that I did nearly 20 years ago and had no control of and fought to get out of, well, what does that say about empowerment?”
Woodward said she was forced into acting in pornographic films when she was younger. She claimed she was living with an older man and they had financial troubles. However, she said she was able to escape the troublesome situation, finish her education, and become a teacher.
An internal review performed by the school board at the time cleared Woodward of any policy violations. Officials told Woodward she’d be allowed to continue teaching unless her past became public, but her work as a well-known activist for the Libertarian Party of Texas would lead to her outing.
In March the school district received a tip saying Woodward’s film name was Robyn Foster.
An adult film database says Robyn Foster was active from 2001 to 2004, claiming that the actress appeared 16 movies, including previously recorded material that was released in 2013.
Woodward said she has been exploring options to fight her termination, noting that she was praised as a teacher, earning recognition from Dallas ISD in merit pay increases for her work two years in a row.
Similarly, Woodward filed an appeal with the Texas Education Agency but spokeswoman DeEtta Culbertson said the agency wasn’t assigning an independent hearing because the appeal was filed incorrectly.
“I’ve been trying to live my life as far away as possible from this stuff for a long time,” said Woodward.
Balch Springs Middle School
