A Baltimore City elementary school teacher was arrested Friday on drug charges, allegedly after a bag of marijuana fell out of her purse in front of students.
The incident allegedly occurred during an early morning class at George G. Kelson Elementary School in East Baltimore. The teacher allegedly dropped her purse and a bag of marijuana tumbled onto the floor, sources familiar with the investigation said.
“I think you dropped something,” the students told the school teacher.
After students reported the incident to the principal, the teacher was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana.
Officials at the school confirmed a teacher had been arrested on possession charges but declined to comment. City school officials would only confirm the arrest.
“A teacher was found to be in possession of a controlled substance, and the teacher was arrested,” said Vanessa Pyatt, spokeswoman for the Baltimore City Public School System.
“I cannot provide any other details regarding the investigation. Anything else is considered a confidential personnel issue,” she said.
School police also declined to comment.
The arrest of a teacher on drug possession charges on school grounds comes two weeks after the beating of a city art teacher ? allegedly by an eighth-grader ? garnered national attention.
Jolita Berry, an art teacher at Reginald F. Lewis High School, was attacked repeatedly by a student after Berry told the student to sit down. The beating was captured by a cell phone camera. Berry later appeared on both “The Today Show” and CNN.
Examiner Staff Writer Kelsey Volkmann contributed to this story.
