PHOENIX – An Arizona school teacher showed up to class drunk and continued drinking throughout the day, authorities said Thursday.
Students at Poston Butte High School in San Tan Valley called the school's main office Wednesday afternoon after Kathleen Jardine began cursing and yelling at them. The school's principal and a responding deputy met with Jardine. According to the deputy, Jardine initially denied being intoxicated. She later admitted that she had been drinking the night before, that morning and during lunch in her classroom.
The math teacher had a blood alcohol concentration level of .205, two-and-a-half times the legal limit for drivers. A school security officer found a bottle of vodka, a bottle of white wine and a bottle of Sunny D orange juice in her classroom. Authorities said Jardine told them she took a cab to school for fear she was too inebriated to drive.
Jardine, of Chandler, was cited for one count of consumption of alcohol in public but could face disorderly conduct charges. After receiving her citation, Jardine was released to her daughter.
A message left at a phone number listed for Jardine was not immediately returned Thursday.
Florence Unified School District spokesman Richard Franco said Thursday school officials could not comment on personnel issues and because of a pending criminal investigation.
The incident is the second time Jardine has been accused of being intoxicated in class. In 2011, she was fired from a Belen, New Mexico, high school for violating the district's no-alcohol policy. Belen Schools Superintendent Ron Marquez said students in a math class reported that Jardine was slurring her words and staggering. A school nurse examined her and found her to be under the influence of alcohol. She was immediately fired.
"Since that time I have never been called regarding her about a reference," Marquez said.
Franco said the Florence Unified School District does a full FBI background check on all prospective employees. Officials also verify teaching certificates, references and letters of recommendation, he added.
"I can tell you, as a district, we can only go off of what's reported on applications," Franco said. "If nothing else is reported to us through the application process or any other means, there's no way of us knowing about it."
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