As seemingly more and more cases of illicit teacher-student relationships pop up across the state, school district and state education leaders are taking proactive measures.

Districts are beefing up their codes of conduct. The state, besides already requiring ethics training, is now having teachers go through a periodic criminal background check, not just new hires.

But some parents wonder if the state is doing enough to protect students from educators who are sexual predators.

"It's a little scary for a parent," said Michelle Roberts, who has an 18-year-old daughter at Layton High.

Layton High's former choir director Joseph Everton, 62, had a relationship with a then-17-year-old female student. The girl graduated last spring and married Everton in September. A police investigation found Everton's actions inappropriate but not criminal. No charges will be filed. He is still on paid administrative leave while the district continues its investigation.

State Superintendent Larry Shumway points out, however, that no matter how many rules districts and the state establish, some educators will still break them.

"This is not a situation of people who didn't know the rules," Shumway said. "This is a situation of people who knew very clearly what was right and wrong. And they did wrong."

Salt Lake School District upgraded its ethical standards policy Nov. 3. The district reviews its policies every five years and it was this one's turn. Coincidentally, the district's action comes at a time of fallout from cases involving West High School faculty.

Former West High history teacher Jose Fanjul, 47, was accused of sexual misconduct with a then-16-year-old female student. He was acquitted of all charges in June.

Marco Herrera, 54, a counselor at the school, is in prison after he pleaded guilty to engaging in illegal sexual activity with the same West High girl in 2007.

Fanjul was on unpaid leave from the time he was removed from teaching September 2008 until Aug. 31, when Salt Lake District put him on paid administrative leave while the district continued its investigation. Fanjul resigned from the district Oct. 23 and therefore the district's investigation is discontinued, Salt Lake District spokesman Jason Olsen said Friday.

Salt Lake District's revamped policy emphasizes high ethical standards, which the district plans to review during annual teacher conduct training. "We hope to give examples to employees of things that may constitute inappropriate boundary invasion, and the kinds of things that would not," said Patrick Garcia, Salt Lake District human resources director.