SANDPOINT — A former Lake Pend Oreille School teacher’s trial on a felony sex battery charge is being postponed.

Nichole Noel Thiel’s four-day jury trial was set to start next month, but is being pushed back to provide additional time for defense investigation, according to records filed in 1st District Court on Friday.

Thiel’s counsel, Michael G. Palmer, requested the continuance and Bonner County Prosecutor Louis Marshall did not object, records show.

Thiel is charged with sexual battery of a teen between the ages of 15-16 for an alleged sexual rendezvous with a student at a Sandpoint condominium in December 2015. Thiel, 46, was a culinary arts teacher at LPOHS and the 16-year-old was a student at the time.

Thiel was ordered to stand trial in March after the 16-year-old testified they communicated through social media before engaging in the tryst. The teen did not dispute a defense characterization that having sex with a teacher was an unchecked box on his personal bucket list, according to hearing testimony.

Thiel, 48, of Coeur d’Alene, was vice principal and athletic director of the Coeur d’Alene Charter Academy when the sexual misconduct allegations surfaced earlier this year. She was placed on leave after school officials learned Thiel was under investigation by Sandpoint Police.

Thiel pleaded not guilty to the charge and is free on her own recognizance while the case is pending.

Thiel’s jury trial has been reset for October, records show. If convicted as charged, Thiel could be sentenced to up to 25 years in prison.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.