FAYETTEVILLE -- A substitute teacher in the School District faces charges of drug possession.
Justine Ann McDuffie, 44, of 1600 E. Rolling Hills Drive, is scheduled for arraignment April 14, according to the Washington County Prosecutor's Office.
At A Glance
Substitute Teaching
A substitute teacher in Arkansas must be 21 years old and have a high school diploma. The substitute doesn’t have to be a college graduate or have a teaching license and can stand in for a teacher at any grade level. Subteach USA has contracted to provide substitutes to 105 districts in Arkansas, including Bentonville, Fayetteville and Farmington.
Source: Staff Report
She worked as a substitute for 12-and-a-half days at eight schools this school year, said Greg Mones, district human resources director. She hasn't worked in the district since the end of February, he said.
She was arrested March 12 at her home by the 4th Judicial District Drug Task Force and city police officers in connection with felony possession of a controlled substance, methamphetamine, with intent to deliver and felony possession of drug paraphernalia. She's free on $3,500 bond.
Fayetteville contracts Subteach USA in Paragould to provide substitute teachers. Tammy Winn, the director of operation, was unavailable Friday, according to an associate in her office who said Winn was the only person authorized to discuss the situation.
McDuffie was employed in the district as a substitute in 2012 and was terminated, as were all substitutes, when the School Board approved a contract with Subteach last summer. She was then hired by Subteach, Mones said.
Mones said the district notified Subteach about McDuffie's arrest, and "they took it from there."
McDuffie is a licensed teacher in Arkansas, certified to teach middle school social studies and at the elementary level, according to the Arkansas Department of Education. Her license was issued in December 2011 and is set to expire at the end of 2015. A spokesman for Hendrix College said a Justine McDuffie attended the college.
Chris Lawson, attorney for the School District, said the contract with Subteach USA includes a provision on background checks that places the responsibility on Subteach as the employer of the substitute teacher.
"That includes the criminal background," Lawson said.
Jaime Black, 35, was also arrested at McDuffie's home March 12 in connection with two counts of felony possession of a controlled substance with the purpose to deliver. Officers confiscated several pills of Oxycodone, Methadone, Clonazepam and Xanax in a small brown pouch Black said was hers, according to the arrest report.
Officers confiscated digital scales, methamphetamine packaged in plastic bags, a ledger and $475, according to the report.
The home is owned by the McDuffie Family Revocable Trust, according to property records.
NW News on 04/05/2014