A popular Cobb County music teacher has been charged with sexually assaulting one of his students.

Before his arrest Monday afternoon, Steven Martin Parkman, 32, resigned as Director of Orchestral Activities at Harrison High School, said Cobb School District spokesman Jay Dillon. The instructor quit "in lieu of termination," Dillon said. Students were told Parkman, who had worked at the school for four years, resigned for personal reasons, though before the day's end word of his arrest had spread.

Harrison High School

Steven Parkman

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"They're confused, shocked ... they don't know what to think," said Pam Berms, president of the Harrison High Orchestra Board. Parkman was well-liked and respected by his students, including her daughter, Berms said.

"The relationship between a student and an orchestra teacher is very similar to an athlete and a coach," she said. "They go on trips together, they're together after school ..."

The avid booster accompanied the Harrison orchestra to out-of-town competitions and said she never saw Parkman act inappropriately around his pupils.

"I went on every trip, and I never saw anything that would cause me to have concern," Berms said. "I still have no concerns. I will make no judgement without all the facts."

Those may be hard to come by, as Parkman remained in custody Monday night at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center, said police spokeswoman Cassie Reece.

Under Georgia legal code, even if the sexual contact were consensual, in the case of a student and teacher it would still be considered sexual assault because the accused "has supervisory or disciplinary authority over such other person."

Parkman's bond was set at $35,000.

Calls to his home Monday night were not returned. Parkman, a member of the tenor section of the Cobb Symphony Chorus. resides in Dallas with his wife and twin 6-year-old boys, according to his blog, linked on Harrison High's official website.

Whatever his legal fate, Berms said he leaves behind a revitalized orchestra.

"He had grown it from a very local, under-performing program into one that was much more stable and vibrant," he said.