By Victor Skinner
EAGnews.org

IOWA CITY, Iowa – A Iowa City math teacher faces decades behind bars after she allegedly added several of her students to her list of sexual partners.

Ashley Nicole-Anderson, 24, taught at Aplington-Parkersburg High School where police say she had sex with one 18-year-old student and performed oral sex on several others, the Daily Mail reports.

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“Anderson … also sent nude photographs of herself to students during an almost year long series of illicit liaisons,” according to the Mail.

Anderson allegedly admitted to inappropriate conduct with students on four separate occasions between August 1, 2011 and June 30, 2012 while working at the school, where she taught math and served as a faculty adviser for Students Against Drunk Driving and on the prom committee.

A police investigation found Anderson allegedly had sex with an 18-year-old student from her math class at the teen’s home, and performed oral sex on two 16-year-old students – one of whom was on the prom committee.

“A fourth relationship with a 17-year-old student included a kiss on a gravel road after track practice last spring and continued after he graduated from the school, the complaint says,” according to the Daily Mail.

Anderson is free on a $5,000 bond from the Butler County Jail, and faces four counts of sexual exploitation by a school employee, each with a potential five-year prison sentence.

We have to wonder if school officials couldn’t have prevented several of the incidents. Aplington-Parkersburg school officials were aware of the allegations, the Daily Mail reports, but aren’t revealing when they knew what.

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“We can affirm that our students will always be our first priority and that we have followed all school policies on matters such as this and that the school cooperated fully with the police investigation,” according to a district statement.

That doesn’t give parents much solace. We’ve seen several incidents where school employees repeatedly abused students while school officials “followed all school policies on matters such as this.” The bottom line is that administrators knew what was happening and failed to respond in a timely or appropriate manner.

It’s hard to believe that school leaders didn’t know of Anderson’s indiscretions before a fellow teacher eventually learned about the abuse and called police. Parents should demand to know who knew about Anderson’s behavior and when they knew it.

That’s a particularly important question that school officials don’t appear eager to answer voluntarily.