Administrators concluded that Rowan was having a sexual relationship with the student, but with his resignation, "we stopped going forward," Ronan superintendent Mark Johnston told the board at the hearing.

Montana law requires district to pass cases of immoral conduct to OPI, which then began building a case to go after Rowan's license to teach.

Johnston told the board that both of the student's parents initially denied that the relationship was real before later admitting that it was.

The girl's father said that he didn't know what could be done because the girl was 18, and didn't think he had to say anything because she was 18, Johnston said.

OPI also had Rowan's ex-girlfriend testify, who said that she believed Rowan was in a sexual relationship at the time, in part because of things she saw while moving out of their shared residence, like a used condom.

The board unanimously revoked Rowan's license. It requires a lower evidentiary standard than criminal courts.

License revocations matter because if an educator is fired from a school, he or she may be able to get another teaching job.