Teacher Admits Snorting Coke in Class

(Lewiston, New York) Reports of this nature have prompted calls for teachers to undergo drug testing.

From Buffalo News:

A substitute teacher who admitted snorting cocaine in front of her fourth-grade pupils will be arraigned Feb. 21 in Town Court on charges that could send her to jail for up to three years, police said Friday.

Joan M. Donatelli, 59, a Lewiston-Porter substitute who lives in the Town of Lewiston, has been charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child. Each count carries fines and up to a year in jail.

Sgt. Frank J. Previte of the Lewiston Police Department said the incident occurred Feb. 1 while Donatelli was teaching at the Intermediate Education Center in the Lewiston-Porter Central School District.

Lewiston-Porter school officials quickly notified parents of the incident.


[Update 04/19/07]

Donatelli pleads guilty.


[Update 06/28/07]

Donatelli sentenced.