This outrages me and how it could be swept under the rug.
CBS news reported that a teacher’s aide at a Tracy elementary school has been arrested at school and accused of being drunk in a classroom. Lisa Benns works with an autistic child in a third-grade class at Villalovoz Elementary School.
Police say Benns came to school sober but during lunch break went to her car and drank. Benns went back into the classroom with students, but a teacher noticed that Benns appeared to be drunk.
“Her inability to walk without having to lean against something,” said Tracy Police Sgt. Tony Sheneman, was how the teacher knew something was wrong. “We found some empty bottles, but we don’t know if that’s what she was drinking.”
The teacher had Benns removed from the classroom immediately. No children were hurt. Benns is facing child endangerment and drunk-in-public charges, according to authorities.
Benns is a contract worker and not an employee of the Tracy Unified School District.
I work full time as an English and social studies teacher for Advanced Academics, Inc., right here in Tracy. As I note how the public schools are falling on their swords right and left, leaving the system increasingly is one of the best things that I've ever done in my career.
I guess that we could have drunk people showing up in cyberspace, too. Think about it. If my AAI teaching assistant comes to work drunk, what's she going to do? Create weird typos? Sleep in her cubicle? Drool on the keyboard?
Sheesh.
Think about it. If my AAI teaching assistant comes to work drunk, what's she going to do? Create weird typos? Sleep in her cubicle? Drool on the keyboard?
Sheesh.
Is it that she heard th news on CBS before she heard it somewhere else locally?
Is it because she doesn't know th final outcome of this employee an wants to see her immediately fired without knowing all of th specifics?
I don't know what else could be done by th police an school district at this point.
1. She went to her car, something happened to make her appear drunk. After all, the police didn't "know if she had been drinking," so apparently they couldn't smell it on her breath or feel her actions warranted a field sobriety test. Even then, baised on a CBS news report, does anyone factually know if a field spbriety test was administered?
2. The teacher immedately had the aide removed from the room and out of the presence of children. I noticed that while th police could have done this on their own if they believed th woman to be drunk but apparently didn't until the teacher requested it. Even then, was she arrested or simply escorted off th school's property?
What more could have been done at that point in time?
Yes,the woman faces "charges" but that does not prove she is guilty of any wrongdoing. There are other reasons why she may have been disoriented besides circumstancial evidence found in her car.
So unless there are more "facts" than what is allegated by th letter above, why don't we just let things take their course and when it comes to a hearing then decide what needs to be done?
Or have we now become self proclaimed judges an juries an feel that we don't need to investigate what actually happened before we take punative measures like termination of employment and or incarceration?