POLK COUNTY, Fla. – A sixth grade math teacher who was found passed out behind the wheel of a car is now facing drug possession charges, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies said they noticed 40-year-old Robin Ramos asleep in the driver’s seat of a Nissan Altima parked at a RaceTrac around 1 a.m. Tuesday and went to check on her.
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Ramos said she doesn’t have a driver’s license so she was waiting for someone to come pick her up, records show.
Inside the car, deputies said they found a syringe containing a clear liquid on the passenger’s seat and a metal spoon with a white crystal-like substance on it, both of which tested positive for methamphetamine.
Ramos admitted to using meth but said she hadn’t taken any on Tuesday, according to a news release.
Deputies said Ramos is a sixth grade math teacher at Kathleen Middle School.
“The parents of this woman’s students must be shocked and angry. It shocks and angers me, and I don’t have any children in her class. We also arrested her last May for DUI, so this makes the second school employee we’ve arrested in as many weeks who has a prior criminal history. That is completely unacceptable,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said in a news release.
Ramos is facing charges of possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Polk County Public Schools said Ramos has no prior disciplinary action on her file.
“We are deeply disappointed to hear about these charges against her. She has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the criminal investigation,” a spokesman said.
He added that her prior DUI arrest would not have made her ineligible for employment.
She has worked for the district since 2003, when she was hired as a substitute teacher. She’s also taught at Wendell Watson Elementary, Socrum Elementary and Oscar J. Pope Elementary. She started her current role in October 2020.