Cleveland Advocate - News
UPDATE: Splendora teacher free on bond
 |
| Elena Ducoing |
By JAMIE NASH
A Splendora Independent School District first-grade teacher facing drug charges posted $50,000 bail and was released early Thursday from the Montgomery County Jail.
Elena Ducoing’s arrest on cocaine and marijuana charges came just six days after law enforcement arrested a Montgomery Independent School District kindergarten teacher on charges of methamphetamine possession as she left school property. Both incidents shocked Montgomery County leaders and raised questions about mandatory drug testing for teachers.
Ducoing’s husband Robert Munoz was arrested Sept. 22 on the same charges at their home in Conroe following a six-month investigation by the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office Special Investigations Unit. Ducoing was not home at the time of her husband’s arrest, said Lt. Philip Cash, head of the SIU. Bail for the couple was higher than that for a typical third-degree felony bond amount because Munoz and Ducoing are potential flight risks, Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Sylvia Yarborough said.
Officers took Ducoing into custody at Greenleaf Elementary School, immediately after students were released from class, on arrest warrants stemming from a Sept. 30 indictment.
She was not terminated from her job, but Ducoing was suspended with pay until her case advances through the legal system, school officials said. The Montgomery ISD terminated Weaks immediately after her arrest.
Splendora ISD Superintendent Dr. Thomas Price sent a letter home with Greenleaf students informing parents about the arrest.
“These alleged charges are not in any way linked to school,” the letter stated. “A qualified, long-term substitute teacher will be employed to continue the high-quality education for our children.”
Splendora Mayor Wayne Carley said he was “shocked, to say the least,” upon learning about Ducoing’s arrest.
“I have zero tolerance for smoking, for alcohol and for drugs for anybody who’s going to be a role model for kids,” Carley said. “I think they should throw the book at her.”
Carley also was appalled, he said, to learn that, like many other districts, SISD does not test teachers for drugs.
“It’s a failure in the system,” he said.
Teachers should be tested upon hiring, Carley said, and then randomly throughout the school year. The city of Splendora follows that policy for its employees.
The mayor was not the only one talking about the teacher’s arrest.
Faye Sitton, who co-owns Sitton’s Quick-Stop with her husband, said Ducoing’s arrest was the hot topic for discussion in her store Thursday.
“People are very disappointed that someone like that could be a school teacher,” Sitton said.
The consensus, she said, was that all schools should drug test all teachers.
SISD does not test teachers for drugs prior to employment, but applicants must consent to a criminal background check. A search of public records does not reflect Ducoing had a criminal history.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is investigating Ducoing and Munoz, Cash said. The couple have three school-age children, so law enforcement contact Child Protective Services, he said.
CPS did not take custody of the children and have no public record on them, spokeswoman Gwen Carter said Thursday.
SEE ORIGINAL STORY HERE: http://hcnonline.com/articles/2008/10/10/cleveland_advocate/news/4208splendora_teacher_arrest_ca.txt
Elena Ducoing’s arrest on cocaine and marijuana charges came just six days after law enforcement arrested a Montgomery Independent School District kindergarten teacher on charges of methamphetamine possession as she left school property. Both incidents shocked Montgomery County leaders and raised questions about mandatory drug testing for teachers.
Ducoing’s husband Robert Munoz was arrested Sept. 22 on the same charges at their home in Conroe following a six-month investigation by the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office Special Investigations Unit. Ducoing was not home at the time of her husband’s arrest, said Lt. Philip Cash, head of the SIU. Bail for the couple was higher than that for a typical third-degree felony bond amount because Munoz and Ducoing are potential flight risks, Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Sylvia Yarborough said.
Officers took Ducoing into custody at Greenleaf Elementary School, immediately after students were released from class, on arrest warrants stemming from a Sept. 30 indictment.
She was not terminated from her job, but Ducoing was suspended with pay until her case advances through the legal system, school officials said. The Montgomery ISD terminated Weaks immediately after her arrest.
Splendora ISD Superintendent Dr. Thomas Price sent a letter home with Greenleaf students informing parents about the arrest.
“These alleged charges are not in any way linked to school,” the letter stated. “A qualified, long-term substitute teacher will be employed to continue the high-quality education for our children.”
Splendora Mayor Wayne Carley said he was “shocked, to say the least,” upon learning about Ducoing’s arrest.
“I have zero tolerance for smoking, for alcohol and for drugs for anybody who’s going to be a role model for kids,” Carley said. “I think they should throw the book at her.”
Carley also was appalled, he said, to learn that, like many other districts, SISD does not test teachers for drugs.
“It’s a failure in the system,” he said.
Teachers should be tested upon hiring, Carley said, and then randomly throughout the school year. The city of Splendora follows that policy for its employees.
The mayor was not the only one talking about the teacher’s arrest.
Faye Sitton, who co-owns Sitton’s Quick-Stop with her husband, said Ducoing’s arrest was the hot topic for discussion in her store Thursday.
“People are very disappointed that someone like that could be a school teacher,” Sitton said.
The consensus, she said, was that all schools should drug test all teachers.
SISD does not test teachers for drugs prior to employment, but applicants must consent to a criminal background check. A search of public records does not reflect Ducoing had a criminal history.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is investigating Ducoing and Munoz, Cash said. The couple have three school-age children, so law enforcement contact Child Protective Services, he said.
CPS did not take custody of the children and have no public record on them, spokeswoman Gwen Carter said Thursday.
SEE ORIGINAL STORY HERE: http://hcnonline.com/articles/2008/10/10/cleveland_advocate/news/4208splendora_teacher_arrest_ca.txt
Copyright © 2009 - Houston Community Newspapers Online