Drug detectives arrested a Howard High School guidance counselor Wednesday after finding crack cocaine in his car parked on the school?s lot, police said.
Alan Silberman, 62, of Lyons Run Circle, was charged with possession of cocaine and related paraphernalia, said Sherry Llewellyn, police spokeswoman.
“This isn?t the kind of thing that our street drug detectives do very often, but we respond to every tip that we get to determine if it?s credible,” said Llewellyn, referring to the tip police received on their drug tip line. “In this case, it was.”
Silberman, a 35-year veteran of the Howard County school system, is a counselor for students in grades 10 through 12 and has worked at the school for 14 years, according to the Howard High School counseling department?s Web site.
Police visited the school at around 1:30 p.m., and a K-9 alerted police to the drugs after scanning the car, Llewellyn said.
Police searched the car after retrieving Silberman from the school and found a small amount of crack cocaine and related paraphernalia in his car.
Silberman was arrested without incident, Llewellyn said.
A call to Silberman?s home was not returned.
A nationally certified counselor who holds multiple degrees, Silberman has been a teacher and counselor in elementary, middle and high schools, as well as college, according to the school counseling department?s Web site.
His mission for class, he wrote, is “to prepare students for the 21st century with skills, strategies and abilities to reach their full potential, achieve their goals and become productive and successful citizens of the world.”
In 2005, Baltimore police charged River Hill HighSchool social studies teacher Timothy Hartlove with possession with intent to distribute after finding methamphetamine, marijuana, ecstasy and various other drugs in a safe in his Baltimore home.
