Teacher Jennifer Davis was arrested on a public intoxication charge last Thursday at Cross Timbers Elementary School, Oklahoma City station KMTV reported. The school of about 450 students in grades three through five is located in Tecumseh, which is about 40 miles southeast of Oklahoma City.
The TV station obtained the police body camera footage that shows officers meeting with Davis and the district superintendent in a school office where she’s given a field sobriety test. Officers noted her breath smelled like alcohol.
“How much did you drink,” an officer asks her.
“Just a glass of wine, nothing major,” she responded, according to the video.
KMTV reported her blood alcohol content level was .066 and that she told officers she had a glass of wine the night before. The legal limit to drive is a .08.
The school district in a press release said Davis was immediately removed from the classroom once she was suspected of being under the influence of alcohol.
“Immediately, we had a substitute teacher in the classroom, and we have already begun working on finding a long-term substitute teacher to assist while we search for a permanent teacher. We are committed to finding a great teacher to lead the classroom and help our children excel this year,” the school district said.
The press release said the district was not aware of any students who witnessed Davis’ alleged drunkenness firsthand. The district called the incident “disturbing and unsettling.”
Davis “resigned effective immediately,” the school district said. School board meeting minutes show she was hired before the 2019-20 school year.
This is at least the second Oklahoma teacher to recently be busted while allegedly drunk on the job. Kimberly Coates, 53, also was arrested on a public intoxication charge when she allegedly showed up drunk on the first day of school last month in Perkins, which is 50 miles north of Tecumseh. She allegedly told police she drank a half box of wine until around 3 a.m. earlier that same morning. Her BAC was .24.
‘Just a glass of wine, nothing major’: Teacher busted for public intoxication after allegedly showing up to school drunk
