FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A South Florida teacher has been fired after she showed up for work drunk, documents obtained by News 6 partner WPLG-TV allege.
[RELATED: Central Fla. teacher recently arrested on similar charge]
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Lynn Singleton was fired by the Broward County school board Tuesday after a recommendation for termination by Superintendent Robert Runcie, Broward County Public Schools spokeswoman Nadine Drew said.
According to school board documents, Singleton was seen by another teacher stumbling as she was escorting her first-grade students to class at Lloyd Estates Elementary School in Oakland Park on Dec. 9.
The teacher notified the school's principal, who noticed an odor of alcohol while speaking with Singleton, the administrative complaint said. The principal also noticed that Singleton "was irritable and unable to respond to questions."
According to the report, Singleton let her entire first-grade class go to the portable restroom unsupervised, and a student in the class was injured when his finger got caught in a door on his way back to the classroom.
Runcie said in the complaint that Singleton was tested for alcohol and drugs under the school district's drug-free workplace policy. A Breathalyzer test showed an initial reading of .235 and a second reading of .203, more than double the state legal limit of .08.
Singleton, who was hired by the school district in 1996, had previously been disciplined for excessive absenteeism in 2008, according to the complaint, and was given a verbal reprimand for dishonesty "when she requested that another teacher sign in for her at school as being present when she was not there."
The complaint alleges that Singleton has twice been convicted of driving under the influence -- in 1988 and 2003 -- but failed to report her arrest and conviction as required by district policy.
Runcie cites office misconduct, immorality, incompetency and willful neglect of duty as just cause for Singleton's termination.