School Daze II

Just a quick follow up on an education story I first wrote about in my original "School Daze" post:

Last year, the local school superintendent fired an elementary school teacher after repeated incidents of being under the influence of alcohol during the school day, reports of driving under the influence with children in the vehicle, and repeated arrests for domestic assault and battery with alcohol involved. To many peoples' surprise, an arbitrator ruled that she was fired unfairly, a ruling upheld by a RI Superior Court judge.

So, after all that, you'd think that the teacher might have realized she needed help and made some changes for the better, right?

To quote Bruce Willis in Die Hard..."Sorry, Hans, wrong guess!"

On Monday morning, one month after being reinstated, the teacher at the center of this story was arrested by Bristol police for suspicion of drunk driving on her way to school! Of course, it's only "for suspicion" as she refused a field sobriety test (her legal right in RI) after witnesses reported erratic driving and police observed her swerving back and forth along the road.

I sincerely hope that this woman gets help and treatment for her own sake, the sake of the kids who were put into her charge, and for the sake of other people on the road (like me...I drive right past where she was arrested every day on the way to work). And while I'm a firm believer in the concept of innocent until proven guilty, it is a relief to know that the superintendent has suspended her while the allegations are being investigated. Now we'll just see if the suspension actually sticks.