PHOENIX (AP) — An
Arizona high school teacher who feared she was too inebriated to drive
took a cab to work, then continued drinking throughout the day until
students alerted administrators that she was cursing and yelling at
them, authorities said Thursday.
Students at
Poston Butte High School in San Tan Valley, about 35 miles southeast of
Phoenix, called the school's main office Wednesday afternoon to report
the behavior by Kathleen Jardine.
The
school's principal and a sheriff's deputy met with Jardine. According
to the deputy, Jardine initially denied being intoxicated. She later
admitted that she had been drinking the night before, that morning and
during lunch in her classroom.
The
math teacher had a blood-alcohol level of 0.205 percent, which is 2 1/2
times the legal limit for drivers. A school security officer found a
bottle of vodka, a bottle of white wine and a bottle of Sunny D orange
drink in her classroom. Authorities said Jardine told them she took a
taxi to school because she thought she was too intoxicated to drive.
Jardine,
of Chandler, was cited with one count of consumption of alcohol in
public, but she could also face disorderly conduct charges. After
receiving her citation, the 57-year-old was released to her daughter.
A message left at a phone number listed for Jardine was not immediately returned Thursday.
Florence Unified School
District spokesman Richard Franco said school officials could not
comment on personnel issues and because there's a pending criminal
investigation.
The incident
is the second time Jardine has been accused of being intoxicated in
class. In 2011, she was fired from a Belen, New Mexico, high school for
violating the district's no-alcohol policy. Belen Schools Superintendent
Ron Marquez said students in a math class reported that Jardine was
slurring her words and staggering. A school nurse examined her and found
her to be under the influence of alcohol. She was immediately fired.
"Since that time I have never been called regarding her about a reference," Marquez said.
Online
court records show Jardine pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated
in Albuquerque in February 2004. She was referred to a treatment program
and ordered to undergo alcohol screenings and DWI school.
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