Columbia Middle School Teacher Resigns After DUI Arrest
COLUMBIA, CT – Jessica Duers, 44, who is a Columbia middle school teacher and is accused of a motor vehicle accident as she was driving under the influence of alcohol, has resigned from her job.
According to Eyewitness News, she faced a background check before she was appointed as a life skills teacher and her record shows a past history of consuming alcohol and getting behind the wheel.
According to the superintendent, 2 driving under influence charges were found when they did a background check on Duers back when she applied for the teaching job. She had her driving license suspended but in the year 2011, it was restored.
3 days after the crash, the part-time life skills teacher at Horrace Porter Middle School in Columbia resigned.
When the school officials came to know that she was taken into custody, she was placed on administrative leave.
Joelle Tomick said, “If she was young and did it and went and got help and turned her life around and I wouldn’t want someone to lose her career over that”.
Eyewitness News was told by the Superintendent of Schools, Laurence Fearon, that a background check was done in the year 2013. At that time, Duers told the school district that she had been charged for 2 DUIs.
Eyewitness News came to know that Duers had 5 priors at the time dating back from the year 1998, as shown by the court records. She got her 6th DUI from this accident last month.
According to the police, Duers was driving under the influence and cut off a car causing the driver to hit a 78-year-old man crossing the street.
A fireball whiskey was purchased by Duers an hour prior to the accident as told by a package store clerk.
Tomick said, “At the end of the day a DUI is a serious offense and it can say something about your character especially working with children you need to be careful with those things and the school district should have taken bigger steps to ensure that wouldn’t happened”.
Fearon also told that even though these DUIs were found, the decision to hire her was made by the past superintendent.
On Monday, Duers was in court but her case is being continued until next month. After causing the accident, she posted $50,000.
According to Willimantic Police Department Public Information Officer, Corporal Stanley F. Parizo, Jr, “The Willimantic Police Department is aware of Mrs. Duers’ resignation. We have no further comment on this most unfortunate incident other than to say that this is now a judicial matter”.
News Source: WFSB
