Report: Teacher's aide admitted to smoking crystal meth

ROSWELL, Ga.,None — Police reports obtained by Channel 2 Action News show a teacher's aide fired for leaving a drug pipe at an elementary school admitted she used the pipe to smoke crystal meth.

Channel 2's Mike Petchenik filed an open records request with the school system to learn why the teacher was fired and more about the pipe they found.

"The initial reaction is a little bit of alarm, obviously," was Mountain Park PTA president Kim Nolte's reaction to hearing the school had fired veteran teacher's aide Shirley Robinson for bringing a drug pipe to school.

The police report said a cleaning crew found the pipe in an eyeglass case in a classroom bathroom and Robinson came back to the school looking for the case.

When confronted by police, Robinson stated the glass pipe was used to smoke a drug called "ice," also known as crystal methamphetamine.

"Robinson stated she never used the drug at or near school ... She used the drug to mask the problems she couldn't handle," the report said.

The officer noted in the report that, "Because there was insufficient residue for testing purposes ... Robinson was not charged."

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"Substance abuse stems from other issues people are having in their lives," said psychiatrist Toral Fadia, who treats people with drug problems with Northside Hospital.

Fadia told Petchenik she's not surprised that a popular, well-educated educator was abusing drugs.

"Certainly someone who's high-functioning and well-liked and has all the appearances of being very high-functioning individual can still fall to the hands of substance abuse," Fadia said.

The school system fired Robinson for misconduct. Petchenik tried again to reach out to Robinson for comment, but has not heard back.

WSBTV