Muskogee Teacher Faces Drug Allegations

Muskogee's school board set a dismissal hearing Tuesday night for a teacher accused of drug possession. News on 6 reporter Ashli Sims says the elementary school teacher was suspended last November,

Tuesday, January 9th 2007, 9:05 pm

By: News On 6

Muskogee's school board set a dismissal hearing Tuesday night for a teacher accused of drug possession. News on 6 reporter Ashli Sims says the elementary school teacher was suspended last November, after school leaders discovered students' prescription drugs were missing.

These days even elementary school students have doctor prescribed drugs that they're required to take. Whittier elementary, like many other schools, tries to accommodate students and parents by keeping and administering drugs that need to be taken during the school day.

"Medications are received in a central location, signed in, counted and specified which child they'll be given to," Muskogee Superintendent Mike Garde said.

Last November, school leaders discovered some students' prescriptions were missing.

"That process has both the parent and the person receiving the medication both signing off that the count is correct and thatâ€™s when a red flag went up, when there was not enough pills for the child in that particular case," said Garde.

Operation Plus Program teacher Melba Polston was arrested and charged with possession of a controlled substance and tampering with the school's surveillance camera. She was also suspended from teaching.

Muskogee's superintendent says all of the drugs are kept in a lock box and they've never had an issue with people taking them. But he says the district did change its policy to keep students prescriptions safe.

â€œThe district made the decision that even when we had district programs in a site there needs to be one central location where all pills are received and distributed from," Garde said.

Melba Polston's attorney says his client is innocent, in fact and by law that there was no contraband on her person and the case against her is circumstantial.

Polston is due in Muskogee district court later this month. She will get a chance to plead her case before the school board at the end of February.