A substitute teacher at Rockmart Middle School, Jennifer Lynn Sonnedecker, was arrested this week after a substitute teacher was found drunk in class.
Reports said that the school resource officer overheard a couple of students tell the school principal (Chris Lovelace) that their teacher was drinking in class and falling asleep.
Upon investigating the school’s SRO heard the substitute teacher, Jennifer Sonnedecker, talking with slurred words and she “sounded like she had a thick tongue” and was also unstable on her feet.
Officers said that they then noticed a blue plastic bottle partially exposed in one of her bags. When asked about the blue bottle, Ms. Sonnedecker paused for a moment and said that it was vodka.
Officer Barker asked Ms. Sonnedecker why she brought vodka to school, and she replied, “I’m a drunk.”
Sonnedecker then told officers that she drank over half a bottle of vodka that day.
Sonnedecker then handed officers three prescription bottles containing Venlafaxine HCL ER 150 MG, Venlafaxine HCL 75 MG, and Amoxicillin mixed with Trazodone Hydrochloride 100 MG, none of which were in their original containers.
Polk School Police added that a search of Sonnedecker’s purse resulted in them finding a “Bad Kitty” weapon and a prescription bottle with Hydroxyzine 50 MG. The “Bad Kitty” is a metal spike weapon that is intended to be used like brass knuckles.
When Sonnedecker arrived at the jail, she bent over and fell forward, hitting the left side of her face on the concrete floor.
Sonnedecker is charged with disrupting a public school, possession of alcohol on school grounds, possession of a controlled substance, carrying weapons on school grounds and public drunkenness.
Photo contributed by a student in the class of Sonnedecker.
