The Mobile County Public Schools System (MCPSS) followed protocol before hiring a teacher officials later learned faced a charge of indecent exposure stemming from an incident reported at his former school, an Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE) spokesman said.

Michael Sibley, ALSDE's director of communications, said state officials updated an internal message board just a few days after Montgomery police arrested DeAndre Gerard Hill, 32, at Southlawn Middle School in April 2014. The department had started the process to get Hill's teaching certificate revoked, Sibley said.

The external ALSDE teaching certificate portal was not updated on Aug. 6, 2014, when MCPSS used it to check Hill's background for any issues, said school system Superintendent Martha Peek. He was hired on as a language arts teacher for 7th and 8th grade students at Denton Middle School.

In August, "everything came out clear -- no problems," she said. "They also reviewed his recommendations from his prior school district. They were very strong."

The Montgomery Public School System did not respond to requests for additional information on Hill's time with the district.

A clerk with Montgomery County Municipal Court said authorities later dropped the charges against Hill. No further information on the case was available.

"Mobile County didn't do anything out of the ordinary," Sibley said. "They didn't break protocol. It's not unusual for school districts to check our external portal for background checks."

After investigating, ALSDE determined the delayed update on the department's teaching certificate website was a mistake. Hill was served the notice warning him of the possible certificate revocation during ALSDE's busiest time of the year, Sibley said.

"It's not an excuse (but) to put it in full context it was between the end of the school year and the beginning of the next," Sibley said, noting that 25,000 requests to renew teaching certificates went through the department in July 2014 alone.

ALSDE has since appointed a person to deal specifically with making sure all the department's portals are updated in a correct and timely manner, Sibley said.

ALSDE has continued to work toward revoking Hill's teaching license. Hill was expected to appear for a hearing on June 16.

Hill received his teaching certificate in 2012 despite previous guilty pleas on charges of driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol and breaking and entering a vehicle, according to ALSDE and Alabama court records.

James Ward, associate general counsel for ALSDE, said a conviction on breaking and entering a vehicle would not automatically bar someone from getting his or her teaching certificate. Under Alabama law the charge is a Class C felony.

Ward was not sure if school officials knew of the DUI charge.

Hill's prior arrests came to light after police arrested him on one count of being a school employee and having sexual contact with a student under 19 years old on April 2.

Hill has been on administrative leave from Denton Middle School since early March, Peek said. According to the Mobile Police Department a student complained he made inappropriate sexual comments to her while in his classroom.

Sibley said ALSDE expected Hill to be on leave until authorities get his teaching certificate revoked. He said the process varies but can take upwards of a year.

In the interim, ALSDE typically notes that a teacher has been given notice of proposed action against him or her through the department's online database.

"That does not bar the school system from hiring the teacher but it does give the school system notice that they might want to call and check (the teacher's) references," Sibley said.

Peek said Hill has not been at Denton Middle School since his arrest.

"When we realized we had an issue we immediately took action," she said. Second only to education, she said "the safety of our students is one of the most important things (to us)."