Special Ed Teacher Arrested For Improper Relationship With Student
NORTH TEXAS (CBS 11 NEWS) - A Collin County teacher is out on bond, after deputies arrested her on allegations that she had an improper relationship with a student. Saralyn Portwood, 30, is a special education teacher at Princeton High School.
Philip Anthony, the Superintendent of Princeton Independent School District, says the allegations first surfaced late last week.
Anthony says teachers at the high school reported rumors among students that Portwood had an inappropriate relationship with a 17-year-old male student at the school.
After investigating on Wednesday, administrators reported the claims to the Princeton Police and Collin County Sheriff's Office.
"We're always shocked when things like this happen. You try to look back and say, 'Are there things that would lead us to have foreknowledge', and looking at this, we just didn't see anything that would have given us a clue there could be an allegation such as this," Anthony said.
Deputies arrested Portwood at her home in Farmersville, on Thursday. Jail records show she posted $10,000 bond.
No one answered the door when CBS 11 News tried to reach Portwood at home for comment Monday evening.
Anthony says Portwood, who is in her first year with the district, was immediately suspended with pay, per district policy.
The superintendent says Portwood had two years' prior experience teaching before coming to Princeton, and had a clean background.
"A clean criminal history record. Good recommendations, as they come. [Portwood] is not a single teacher—this is a married teacher," said Anthony.
After the arrest, the school district sent an email blast to parents of all 997 students at Princeton High School, and administrators personally called the parents of students in Portwood's class.
Anthony said the student making the allegations was not one of Portwood's students, but another high-schooler at Princeton.
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