Photo: Contributed - Ventura County Star

Stacie Halas

A U.S. science teacher fired after students learned she had appeared in pornographic movies has been told she can't return to the classroom. She had hoped to set a precedent for people looking to escape an embarrassing past.

A three-judge commission in California said unanimously that Stacie Halas can't teach again.

"We were hoping we could show you could overcome your past," Halas lawyer Richard Schwab said Tuesday.

Halas was fired in April after her online porn videos were discovered by students and teachers.

The judges said Halas, 32, was continually deceitful about her past.

Schwab said Halas "was being honest and forthright, but was embarrassed and humiliated by her past experience in the adult industry."

Schwab has said Halas did not star in pornographic movies while teaching in any district. He said she took porn roles only during an eight-month period from 2005 to 2006 because of financial problems.

District superintendent Jeff Chancer applauded the commission's ruling.

Halas' decision to "engage in pornography was incompatible with her responsibilities as a role model for students," Chancer said in a statement.