A former Eden Prairie High School teacher accused of grooming a female student pleaded guilty Friday to one gross misdemeanor charge, court records show.

Craig L. Hollenbeck, 51, of Minneapolis, was accused of improper touching and carrying on an inappropriate relationship in the second half of the 2020-2021 school year. He was facing one charge of endangering a child.

Hollenbeck put in his petition to plead guilty Friday.

The former teacher was given a stayed jail sentence as part of the agreement, according to his attorney John Leunig. That means Hollenbeck will not go to jail unless he fails to complete the other terms of his plea deal. If he does fail, the gross misdemeanor means he could face one year of jail time.

Hollenbeck is also required to complete 30 days of the state's Sentence to Service program, Leunig said. The program is a sentencing alternative that puts "carefully selected, nonviolent offenders to work on community improvement projects" according to the program website.

There could be additional requirements for Hollenbeck. Before his sentencing March 6, Hollenbeck will have to go through a pre-sentence investigation, in which the court determines if there needs to recommend additional components of his sentence.

Hollenbeck was a social studies teacher at the time of his resignation Sept. 28, 2021, according to Eden Prairie Schools' Board of Education records. That's the same month police were first alerted to the suspected relationship he had with the senior.

He was hired as a teacher in 1998, district spokesman Dirk Tedmon said. He quit four days after the district received a complaint about him, said Tedmon. Leunig declined to comment further on the case.