Elementary school substitute comes to school drunk, gets arrested, SC cops say

A school resource officer smelled alcohol on a substitute teacher as he walked her to her assigned classroom, according to South Carolina police.

The substitute had arrived at James B. Edwards Elementary School in Mount Pleasant, about 8 miles northeast of Charleston, at around 11:15 a.m. on Sept. 22, according to a report from the Mount Pleasant Police Department.

As the school resource officer escorted her to class, he smelled alcohol and noticed she was walking in way that made him “question if she was under the influence,” the report says.

“... Her conversation was erratic and she couldn’t finish her sentences,” the report says.

The officer alerted administrators and staff members talked with the substitute and told her that they “did not feel comfortable with her being in contact with children and being on school property,” the report says. She did not have any contact with students during the day.

Police officers responded to the school and arrested her on a charge of public intoxication.

While in the back of a police cruiser, she slipped her left hand out of one of her handcuffs, and when she was asked to get out of the vehicle, she “hit her head on the plexiglass,” the report says.

The substitute was hired through a private contractor and was not an employee of Charleston County School District, Andrew Pruitt, spokesman for the school district, told McClatchy News. He said staff members at the school took proactive action to ensure that the substitute didn’t interact with any children.

“That individual will no longer be subbing in any of our schools,” he said.

This story was originally published September 23, 2022 at 9:26 AM with the headline "Elementary school substitute comes to school drunk, gets arrested, SC cops say."