An Elkmont sixth-grade teacher charged with stealing more than $1,500 worth of merchandise from a Huntsville mall in 2008 has been charged again with shoplifting, records show.

Athens Police arrested 38-year-old Tammy Boyd Hand on Dec. 22 for allegedly stealing a $40 flashlight and a $30 massager from the local Walmart, according to Athens Police Capt. Floyd Johnson. The third-degree theft charge is a misdemeanor.

A year earlier, in September 2008, Hand was charged with second-degree theft — a felony — for allegedly stealing $1,500 worth of clothes and other items from Parkway Place Mall in Huntsville, records show. She was placed on paid administrative leave after both arrests prompting some parents to wonder why.

Limestone County school officials placed Hand on paid administrative leave from September 2008 through the first week of January 2009, when she returned to the classroom, records show.

Although the Dec. 22 theft arrest was her second, school officials have again placed her on paid administrative leave until her case is resolved, records show. She is scheduled to appear in Athens Municipal Court at 8:30 a.m. April 8 to answer the charge.

Some Elkmont parents, who are aware of Hands two arrests, wonder why she was placed on paid leave and then allowed to return to the classroom following a felony theft arrest. They also wonder why, after a second theft charge, she has again been placed on paid leave.

Assistant Superintendent Mike Owens explained.

“The school system can’t send a teacher home without pay while he or she is awaiting a criminal trial,” he said. “Unpaid leave would be seen as a punishment when the teacher has not been convicted.”

In Hand’s case, Owens said, “After her first arrest, she was placed back in the classroom because of the court action that took place in Madison.”

The Madison Count District Attorney’s Office agreed to “nolle prosequi” or not to pursue the case against Hand if she successfully completed a pretrial intervention program. She received credit for completing the program in December 2008.

Without a conviction, the school system has no proof the teacher committed a crime, unless she confessed.

Some parents argue that a teacher charged with theft is not reflecting proper morals to the students. Although Limestone County teacher contracts don’t have a moral turpitude clause, Owens said, teachers do agree to maintain moral integrity when they become certified by the state.

While school officials do have the power to discipline or put a teacher who misbehaves at a school time on unpaid leave, it is not so with those facing a criminal charge.

“We can’t place someone awaiting criminal trial on unpaid leave — we don’t have proof,” Owens said.

Proof would have to come in the form of a confession by the employee. Police and prosecutors typically don’t share their evidence with school systems because if the information got in the hands of the defense it could jeopardize the case, Owens said.

So, Hand will remain on paid leave until her case is resolved.

Hand, who earned her bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Athens State University and her master’s degree from Alabama A&M; University, began teaching third grade at West Limestone in 2002. From 2003 to 2005 she taught fifth grade at Elkmont High School. Since 2005, she has been teaching sixth grade at Elkmont.