A Florida first grade teacher was arrested after she was caught trying to buy crystal meth while class was in session on Thursday.
Action News Jax reports the Clay County Sheriff’s Office sent an undercover officer and tried to set up a deal with first-grade teacher Valerie Lee Prince so she could buy an “eight ball” of methaphetamine. The transaction was planned at Prince’s workplace, Jacksonville Heights Elementary School since she could purchase the drug while at work.
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Sgt. Vincent Hall said his team did not deliver drugs at the school and said the request raised a few red flags about Prince’s character:
“We did not deliver the drugs to that school, but that brought us great concern. It was a pretty nonchalant request, and the indication was that it was no big deal to the suspect.”
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Officers waited for Prince to clock out of work so they could meet up with her. She purchased 3.5 grams of meth and was arrested shortly afterward. During the interview, she confessed to using meth ten times within the past six months.
A statement was released by the Duval County Public School System Friday evening in regards to Prince’s arrest:
“We’ve become aware that one of our teachers, Valerie Lee Prince, was recently arrested by the Clay County Sheriff’s Office.
“Prince has been a teacher at Jacksonville Heights Elementary School since the 2018-19 school year. She has not taught at any other school in the district.
“The school district’s office of professional standards will conduct an independent investigation. During the course of the investigation, Prince will be removed from the school. If she is able to return to work, she will be assigned to duties that have no contact with children.
“It is always disappointing and disturbing whenever an educator is implicated in this type of activity. As a district, we have very high standards for teachers and all employees, and every day thousands of teachers are going beyond the call of duty to serve children and families. The alleged behavior falls well short of our standards. We will conduct our investigation, and take action as appropriate based on the conclusion of that investigation.”
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