Fuck Dudes...
Montgomery Teacher Is Accused of Giving Students Cocaine
Tuesday, August 26, 2008; 7:06 PM
The students who put together the 2007 yearbook at Thomas S. Wootton High School in Rockville dubbed Theresa C. Duarte "the coolest woman alive." (aka people like ME)
But Montgomery County police say the former English teacher and yearbook advisor's relationship with two students turned criminal in June, when she gave them cocaine -- one of them on two separate occasions -- in her Rockville home.
Duarte, 44, of the 1000 block of Brice Road, was arrested Monday on a warrant charging her with two counts of distributing narcotics and two counts of contributing to delinquent conditions of a child. Police said in a news release that "additional students" may have received drugs from Duarte.
Duarte resigned from Wootton in mid-June, at the end of last school year, for personal reasons, principal Michael Doran said. Doran said school officials are cooperating with police but don't believe Duarte provided any drugs on the Wootton campus. The investigation did not begin until after her resignation, police said.
"I'm shocked," Doran said of Duarte's arrest. "It came out of the blue. I'm disappointed if any adult takes advantage of his or her position as a teacher and role model. . . . She was popular, and she produced a good yearbook. She seemed like a regular teacher."
Doran said he didn't know the two students' names. He added that he was discouraged the news of the arrest today marred an otherwise successful start to a new school year for the campus of 2,500 students.
In a charging document, Detective Karen Carvajal wrote that a current Wootton student, identified only as "Student A," reported receiving cocaine from Duarte twice in June. Another student, identified as "Student B," received cocaine from Duarte just before school ended in June, when Duarte was still a teacher, Carvajal wrote.
In an Aug. 20 interview with police, Carvajal wrote, Duarte said she kept cocaine in her bathroom and acknowledged giving some to two students.
"Duarte stated she could not remember when she gave student A cocaine," the detective wrote. "However, she believes it was approximately one week after she gave cocaine to student B."
Carvajal wrote that she found a straw, a folded paper and a small amount of white powder, believed to be cocaine, while searching Duarte's home.
Duarte was released from the Montgomery County Detention Center today after posting $150,000 bail. Court records do not list an attorney for Duarte, and her home phone had a busy signal today.
Police said they began investigating Duarte on Aug. 19, after officials from the county's Child Protective Services said they had received information Duarte was providing illegal drugs to Wootton students. Police said they did not know why the two students were at Duarte's home and are not releasing their ages to protect their identities.
"This is still very much an ongoing investigation to find out if there are any other incidents," said Officer Tenesha Jensen, a Montgomery police spokeswoman.
Kate Harrison, a spokeswoman for the school system, said Duarte had taught at Wootton since fall 2004. She began her Montgomery teaching career during the 2003-04 school year as a long-term substitute teacher at Einstein High School in Kensington, Harrison said.
Duarte had recently completed a Masters degree in teaching at Johns Hopkins University when she joined the Wootton staff, according to an August 2004 newsletter published by the school's PTSA.
Before teaching, she had graduated summa cum laude from the University of Maryland and had earned an MBA from Johns Hopkins, the newsletter said. She had "left a highly successful business career in marketing to return to her first love, English" when she attended a Johns Hopkins program that allows students to earn their Masters in teaching while working in Montgomery schools.
Supervisors and students at Einstein gave her "rave reviews" as an intern and teacher there, the newsletter said.
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This is the teacher that I spent my final two years in high school with, my advisor, the woman who wrote all of my college recommendations. WHAT THE HELL?!?!? I had both the Gazette and the Washington Post call me within 20 minutes of each other asking for my comments on the happenings... I didn't even KNOW anything was happening until the Gazette called. Oyi, I don't even know what to think. FUCK.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008; 7:06 PM
The students who put together the 2007 yearbook at Thomas S. Wootton High School in Rockville dubbed Theresa C. Duarte "the coolest woman alive." (aka people like ME)
But Montgomery County police say the former English teacher and yearbook advisor's relationship with two students turned criminal in June, when she gave them cocaine -- one of them on two separate occasions -- in her Rockville home.
Duarte, 44, of the 1000 block of Brice Road, was arrested Monday on a warrant charging her with two counts of distributing narcotics and two counts of contributing to delinquent conditions of a child. Police said in a news release that "additional students" may have received drugs from Duarte.
Duarte resigned from Wootton in mid-June, at the end of last school year, for personal reasons, principal Michael Doran said. Doran said school officials are cooperating with police but don't believe Duarte provided any drugs on the Wootton campus. The investigation did not begin until after her resignation, police said.
"I'm shocked," Doran said of Duarte's arrest. "It came out of the blue. I'm disappointed if any adult takes advantage of his or her position as a teacher and role model. . . . She was popular, and she produced a good yearbook. She seemed like a regular teacher."
Doran said he didn't know the two students' names. He added that he was discouraged the news of the arrest today marred an otherwise successful start to a new school year for the campus of 2,500 students.
In a charging document, Detective Karen Carvajal wrote that a current Wootton student, identified only as "Student A," reported receiving cocaine from Duarte twice in June. Another student, identified as "Student B," received cocaine from Duarte just before school ended in June, when Duarte was still a teacher, Carvajal wrote.
In an Aug. 20 interview with police, Carvajal wrote, Duarte said she kept cocaine in her bathroom and acknowledged giving some to two students.
"Duarte stated she could not remember when she gave student A cocaine," the detective wrote. "However, she believes it was approximately one week after she gave cocaine to student B."
Carvajal wrote that she found a straw, a folded paper and a small amount of white powder, believed to be cocaine, while searching Duarte's home.
Duarte was released from the Montgomery County Detention Center today after posting $150,000 bail. Court records do not list an attorney for Duarte, and her home phone had a busy signal today.
Police said they began investigating Duarte on Aug. 19, after officials from the county's Child Protective Services said they had received information Duarte was providing illegal drugs to Wootton students. Police said they did not know why the two students were at Duarte's home and are not releasing their ages to protect their identities.
"This is still very much an ongoing investigation to find out if there are any other incidents," said Officer Tenesha Jensen, a Montgomery police spokeswoman.
Kate Harrison, a spokeswoman for the school system, said Duarte had taught at Wootton since fall 2004. She began her Montgomery teaching career during the 2003-04 school year as a long-term substitute teacher at Einstein High School in Kensington, Harrison said.
Duarte had recently completed a Masters degree in teaching at Johns Hopkins University when she joined the Wootton staff, according to an August 2004 newsletter published by the school's PTSA.
Before teaching, she had graduated summa cum laude from the University of Maryland and had earned an MBA from Johns Hopkins, the newsletter said. She had "left a highly successful business career in marketing to return to her first love, English" when she attended a Johns Hopkins program that allows students to earn their Masters in teaching while working in Montgomery schools.
Supervisors and students at Einstein gave her "rave reviews" as an intern and teacher there, the newsletter said.
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This is the teacher that I spent my final two years in high school with, my advisor, the woman who wrote all of my college recommendations. WHAT THE HELL?!?!? I had both the Gazette and the Washington Post call me within 20 minutes of each other asking for my comments on the happenings... I didn't even KNOW anything was happening until the Gazette called. Oyi, I don't even know what to think. FUCK.