Yolo County school on lockdown after substitute teacher seen ‘falling asleep’ in class

An elementary school in Yolo County was placed on a precautionary lockdown Thursday after a substitute teacher was spotted falling asleep and removed from the classroom.

The incident occurred at Delta Elementary Charter School in Clarksburg. A student spotted the substitute teacher “falling asleep” during class and notified another teacher, River Charter Schools Superintendent Matt Taylor told The Sacramento Bee on Friday.

Taylor said the teacher was removed from the classroom and asked to wait in the principal’s office.

“He wasn’t acting violently, he was not being aggressive. No one was ever in any danger,” Taylor said. “Was it a medical emergency because he was falling asleep? Whatever it was, it was not a condition to be teaching.”

After determining the teacher was not suffering from a medical emergency, school administrators called for a Yolo County sheriff’s deputy to conduct a field sobriety test. Taylor said the teacher “was acting like he was intoxicated,” and the administrators wanted a trained deputy to conduct a sobriety test.

When administrators told the substitute teacher to wait for the sheriff’s deputy to arrive, the teacher walked out and headed to his car in the parking lot, Taylor said. As a precaution, administrators initiated a “soft lockdown” on the campus about 10:30 a.m., instructing students and teachers to remain in their classrooms.

The superintendent said administrators did the right thing to act with “an abundance of caution” and keep students from witnessing the incident unfold when the deputy arrived.

“Something was happening with the grownups that the kids don’t need to be around,” Taylor said. “If something turned, we were ready.”

The teacher went to his car and waited there until the deputy arrived. Taylor said the deputy conducted the sobriety test and determined the teacher was not intoxicated and sent the teacher home.

The superintendent said the teacher was not arrested or cited, and “probably could’ve been just having a bad day.”

School administrators lifted the campus lockdown about 10:45 a.m. and the school day continued. School officials sent a notice to parents, informing them about the incident about an hour after the teacher went home.

Taylor said River Charter Schools hires substitute teachers from an agency and will not be inviting that teacher to work there again.