A substitute teacher in Ballwin, Missouri has lost her job after school officials discovered her OnlyFans account. Sheena Sittner had worked as a substitute in St. Louis County when the staffing agency that placed her, Kelly Education, suspended her pending termination and warned her not to contact schools or the district.
According to FOX 2, which reviewed emails shared with the outlet, Kelly Education told Sittner to refrain from contacting any school or district after learning about her online content.
A Company Walks Back Part of Its Warning
Kelly Education later clarified, per its response to FOX 2, that its warning applies only to Sittner's professional role and does not limit her rights as a parent or restrict her participation in her child's education. A school district spokesman confirmed that Sittner should be treated like any other parent and is allowed to volunteer and participate at her child's school. Sittner said she passed a background check and completed mandated online safety training, and she plans to remain involved as a school volunteer going forward. She told the station her personal life is separate from her professional life.
Other Teachers Have Faced Similar Scrutiny
Sittner's case echoes earlier incidents just outside St. Louis. In October 2023, St. Clair High School English teacher Brianna Coppage resigned after officials placed her on leave over an OnlyFans account she had set up to supplement her $42,000 salary, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Weeks later, a second teacher at the same school, Mega Gaither, was suspended. She believed the suspension was related to OnlyFans, though she was told the reason was technically unrelated. Gaither began posting on the platform to help pay her $126,000 in student loan debt while earning a $47,000 salary, as reported by AS.com.
Sittner pointed directly to compensation as the underlying issue, saying women would not need to turn to online content creation if teachers were paid better.
Substitute Certification Requirements
Missouri substitute certification offers routes involving 36 college credit hours or an approved 20-hour training course.
Some agencies classify substitutes as independent contractors. Full-time Missouri teachers are governed by the Missouri Teacher Tenure Act, which allows dismissal for immorality.
The fallout from these cases can follow educators well beyond the classroom. After resigning from St. Clair High School, Coppage was later terminated from a subsequent healthcare position at Compass Health Network in March 2024, within five days of hire. She was told she had violated the company's social media policy, but the company would not explain how, according to The Mirror. The platform at the center of these controversies has grown enormously in scale; OnlyFans had more than 210 million registered paid subscribers and 2.1 million content creators worldwide.
