A part-time Pine View Elementary School teacher was arrested this morning at the school on drug charges.
In a joint press release from Cumberland County Sheriff Casey Cox and Director of Schools William Stepp, the teacher was identified as 31-year-old Angela Elizabeth Anderson of Main St., Cookeville.
She is charged with simple possession of Schedule IV (marijuana), unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia and manufacture, delivery or sale of a controlled substance Schedule II (cocaine).
According to the statement, a K-9 dog alerted on Anderon’s vehicle at around 8:30 a.m. in the school parking lot. Upon searching the vehicle, school resource officer Josh Parrigin and SRO Cpl. Jeff Fitzgerald located illegal drugs.
Anderson was taken into custody at that time. As of Thursday afternoon, she was held at the Cumberland County Jail on a $7,000 bond pending a General Sessions court date of Jan. 8.
The school system has suspended Anderson without pay.
The K-9 dog and handler were from Interquest Canines, a service the Cumberland County Board of Education has used for several years to detect guns and drugs.