Florida Teacher Suspended, Suspected Of Being Stoned In The Classroom

Leesburg, FL – An elementary school teacher was suspended for allegedly being high on opiates and marijuana while instructing students in the classroom. Elizabeth Edmonds is accused of being so stoned that other teachers noticed her “erratic” behavior. The Lake Country educator reportedly tested positive for drugs after she left her Treadway Elementary School classroom, where she was instructing third graders.

After fellow educators raised concerns about the alleged classroom antics of their colleague, she was sent directly to the principal’s office for a drug test, Click Orlando notes. She was immediately placed on paid leave after reportedly failing the drug test, according to the Daily Mail.

Grandparent Keith Douglas had this to say about the alleged marijuana and opiate use by Elizabeth Edmonds:

“To hear that she’s doing drugs herself and going to school and being responsible for a whole classroom of students all day, it’s just shocking. To think that my grandson was in her class, that she was maybe high on these drugs, you never know what could happen.”

The Lake County School Board later voted to suspend the teacher without pay. School administrators are expected to meet in the near future to discuss firing the 30-year-old Florida teacher, WFTV Orlando News reports.

District spokesman Chris Patton had this to say about the incident:

“It’s extremely rare, and it’s something that’s very alarming, definitely.”

Parents angry about not being notified about the incident are calling for teacher drug testing. The district does perform such tests during the initial employment screening, but not on a regular basis. Edmonds can appeal her suspension, but she hasn’t yet.

Surprisingly, the teacher was not been arrested on drug charges. Police officers were not called and neither Edmonds’ belongings or the classroom were searched for marijuana and opiates. Regardless of what may happen professionally with her current position or possible state license issues, she broke the law if she was high on drugs at the school.

The same laws which apply to a guy toking on a joint outside a bar should apply to the college-educated woman tasked with filling young minds with knowledge. If a drunk or stoned parent could be charged with child endangerment (and rightly so) for not properly supervising their brood, then perhaps a drug-using teacher should as well.