Indicted teacher fired

COLUMBIANA — The board of education has not renewed the contract of a first-year teacher who faces up to five years in prison on allegations of sexual activity with a 16-year-old female student.

Schools Superintendent Ron Iarussi said Wednesday that first-year teachers are probationary and can be nonrenewed without a reason.

Joseph Neiheisel, 26, of Cherry Fork Road, Leetonia, was secretly indicted earlier this year by a Columbiana County grand jury on a charge of sexual battery as part of an alleged relationship with the student.

Authorities said there was only one instance of consensual sex. But under Ohio law, Neiheisel faces the charge, up to a $15,000 fine and loss of his teaching certificate.