Texas Teacher Resigns, Arrested for Being Drunk at School

A West Texas biology teacher who was accused of being drunk at school and was subsequently arrested at school for public intoxication has now resigned from her post. School was barely back in session from the time the inebriated educator was taken into custody to when she turned in her resignation letter.

On Friday, September 4, Terry Kay Martin, 50, resigned from Monterey High School in Lubbock where she taught biology following an investigation launched earlier this week into allegations she was drunk at school.

School resource officers got an afternoon phone call that a high school teacher was inebriated on August 26. They responded within 15 minutes of that report. Martin was then formally charged with public intoxication, a Class C misdemeanor, and was booked into the Lubbock County Detention Facility where she bonded out.

A Lubbock Independent School District (ISD) police department summary noted Martin was “found to be under the influence of alcohol and a possible danger to herself and/or others at Monterey High School,” KCBD-11 (NBC) reported.

Lubbock ISD swiftly placed her on administrative leave while they opened a formal investigation into the incident. In a statement, Lubbock ISD spokeswoman Nancy Sharp said “Lubbock ISD did place this employee on administrative leave on Friday, pending an investigation which is still underway.”

Residents and former Monterey High School students like Cori Overstreet told the local NBC affiliate that she learned of her former teacher’s jailing because the booking sheet was posted on social media.

“Despite her [reputation] at MHS, she was a kind person,” Overstreet said. “She got me flowers for auditions one time, and was willing to talk. People mess up and she just needs some help. I will say about the faculty at MHS: we told them something was up with Mrs. Martin, and she smelled like alcohol a lot of the time, but nobody believed us.”

However, late Friday, September 4, the Avalanche-Journal reported that Martin resigned and will not return to the Lubbock ISD. No other details were given about the resignation other than the school district issued a statement saying it closed its investigation into the allegations. Lubbock school district officials reported the incident to the State Board of Educator Certification.

The State Board of Educator Certification (SBEC) is the governing body over educator certification criteria. They also determine if and how a Texas educator is sanctioned in various types of misconduct cases. Punishments can be as mild as a reprimand to permanent certification revocation.

“The campus administration responded quickly and appropriately to the allegations, acting in the best interest of our students,” Berhl Robertson, Jr., Lubbock ISD superintendent, said in the statement.

Follow Merrill Hope on Twitter @OutOfTheBoxMom.