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Arkansas Teacher Put on Paid Leave Following Prostitution Conviction
February 19, 2011
LITTLE ROCK - (AP/The Blaze) - A high school teacher in Little Rock was placed on paid administrative leave Friday after school officials learned she pleaded guilty in November to a prostitution charge.
"I was scared more than anything else because I was thinking of my son," Solona Islam recalled following her arrest last October. "If I do go to jail, what am I supposed to do?"
Islam says her financial struggles with credit card debt and caring for her 18-month-old son led her to make a poor decision. She has a masters degree and is working on a Ph.D.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports school officials were not aware of the 27-year-old McClellan High School algebra teacher's plea until informed by a reporter. Islam was placed on leave Wednesday.
Police Sgt. Cassandra Davis said the school district was not notified because the charge was not a felony. Islam was arrested Oct. 29 on misdemeanor charges of prostitution and operating a business without a license.
She pleaded guilty on Nov. 5 and was given a suspended 90-sentence and a $640 fine.
After a meeting with her boss, Islam resigned Friday, telling the local Fox affiliate she did not want the school district involved in her personal matters.
Now Islam worries her students, their parents and potential future employers may judge her.
“I am a human. They can't see a teacher beyond seeing this is a perfect role model and be perfect all the time."
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