DURHAM, N.C. — A teacher at a Durham school charged with taking indecent liberties with a student appeared in court Tuesday.

An English teacher at Northern High School, Kara Hill is accused of making inappropriate advances toward a young female student. Hill spent Tuesday morning at the front of a courtroom, not the classroom.

The 16-year-old girl told another teacher Hill asked her to kiss her.

Investigators say the incident happened at the school sometime between October and December of last year.

Nicholas Clark, a student at Northern, said there had been talk among students about the accusations for months.

"I thought it was just a rumor," Clark said. "I don't believe she did it."

Now suspended with pay, Hill had nothing to say about the accusations

Her lawyer says she plans to fight it in court.

"She's very upset, but she is working through it," said Randy Griffin, Hill's attorney.

Hill is a graduate of UNC-Wilmington with a masters degree from ECU. She's been teaching English at Northern since August 2001.

Although investigators say she's suspended with pay, the school system couldn't verify her status as of Tuesday and they had no comment on the case.

Hill is due back in court next month.