Alcoholic teacher
SEPTEMBER 2004
Amazing Antics: Stories of Alcoholism-Driven Behaviors
Story from This is True by Randy Cassingham, with “tagline:”
“ROLE MODEL: Sherry Bartlett, 45, was stopped by police in Louisville, Ky., at 7:50 a.m. The officer was giving her a field sobriety test, but stopped it because she was “too unbalanced” to safely continue. A breath test found her blood alcohol level was .20 per cent, well above the legal limit, and she was arrested. And where was Bartlett going at that hour? She was on her way to school: she teaches fifth grade at Slaughter elementary School. After being released from jail, school officials let her return to the classroom. “It’s too early to speculate on disciplinary action,” said a district spokeswoman, who added that if Bartlett had made it to school and was drunk, she would have been fired. (Louisville Courier-Journal) …See no evil, is no evil.”
Reaching a .20 per cent BAL at anything over age 30 is reported by many chemical dependency experts to be a strong indicator of alcoholism all by itself. The fact that Bartlett appeared inebriated at a .20 per cent BAL at 7:50 in the morning suggests late-stage alcoholism. Recall that Henri Paul, who didn’t appear drunk in the hotel video prior to driving Princess Diana to her death, would likely have completed a field sobriety test easily and, perhaps, even passed it even though his BAL was .18 per cent. (The field sobriety test does not include a test for Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus, the involuntary shaking of the eyeballs as the eyes move from side to side with the head held straight.)
Morning drinking strongly suggests long-term active alcoholism. There should be no speculation on disciplinary action and there should have been no return to the classroom, a response on the part of school officials that shows zero understanding of the disease. Bartlett desperately needs rehab before she kills someone on her way to (or from) school, before she pollutes the minds of young children (one can only imagine the quality of her teaching and teaching methods at this late stage) and before she succumbs to her own alcoholism. The (likely) good person underneath the muck of addiction will emerge only in sobriety. Let’s help speed up the process.