CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Tuesday morning's incident involving a teacher within Tuloso-Midway ISD showing up reportedly under the influence of alcohol has sparked discussion among education leaders about teacher support and wellbeing.
Tuloso-Midway Superintendent Steve VanMatre said the situation was discovered when another educator smelled alcohol on the teacher.
The situation was "addressed almost immediately after the teacher in question arrived on campus," VanMatre said in an earlier addressed letter.
The teacher was suspended with pay as the investigation continues.
This comes just five days after a substitute teacher at the same school was arrested for being under the influence of alcohol on campus.
VanMatre told 3NEWS that it isn't clear what the underlying circumstances are that would cause one of the district's employees to come to work reportedly under the influence of alcohol.
"I think there is a bigger issue, that is not just a T.M. issue, there is a national issue," he said.
VanMatre said there is a need for emotional support and assistance for adult educators to help deal with any sort of social emotional issues they might be experiencing in or out of the classroom.
In fact, in the past two weeks, he said the district has rolled out a wellness program for employees.
"We understand there are needs they have whether they are in leadership positions or cleaning our cafeterias," he said. "Nobody is immune from the pressures that we all face as educators and employees who work closely with children. There is a significant amount of stress involved with that, we also need to be aware of if there are triggers we see that there are supports we can offer."
Corpus Christi American Federation of Teachers President Nancy Vera said that she feels more school districts need to adopt a wellness type program for its educators.
"There is a certain stress and intensity teachers have to self medicate, or more and more incidents of teachers having nervous breakdowns and panic attacks, very difficult for teachers," she said.
Vera said that she is working with other school districts like CCISD and West Oso ISD to enhance wellness opportunities for teachers.
"As a union, we for example at Zavala Elementary School, we put together a wellness room with massage chairs for teachers and staff to go in and relax," she said.
Both Vera and VanMatre agree that safety and well-being of students is paramount.
"We need to be aware of it, educate our employees there are negative consequences for making poor decisions and then we move forward," VanMatre said.
VanMatre said he has reported the incident to the TEA, which is standard protocol.
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