Jacksonville teacher accused of being drunk in classroom speaks out

Paul Carlson: "I need to talk to the union.”

At first, Carlson didn’t want to answer our questions about the investigation, or allegations of him being drunk inside his classroom at Robert. E. Lee High School two weeks ago.

As a matter of fact, he brushed off Action News Jax crews, even getting annoyed at times, asking, “Why are you guys here?"

Spruill: "Because we heard you showed up drunk."

Carlson: "Who did?"

Spruill: "You did."

We have been communicating with the school district about this case. They sent us this statement: “Duval County Public Schools is aware of an incident regarding a teacher being under the influence at Robert E. Lee High School," and added that they are reviewing the matter to determine appropriate discipline.

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Spruill: "Are you still working at Robert E. Lee?"

Carlson: "No."

Spruill: "When was the last time you worked there?"

Carlson: "When I got removed, I’m now at Consolidated Services, that’s all I got to say about that."

Three separate sources tell Action News Jax that Carlson was inside the classroom two weeks ago, teaching students while he was intoxicated. Students we talked to say that it wasn’t the first time.

“A lot of students were saying that he showed up to class drunk a few times, and he never had a lesson planned for them, like they would come to class and they would never do nothing. He never had nothing for them to do. They basically got free A’s,” one student said.

Spruill: "Were you inside the classroom drunk, sir?"

Carlson: "No, no. Why are you guys here?"

Action News Jax did obtain Carlson’s 52-page personnel file through an open records request to the school district. It shows that he got a "Needs Improvement” grade three academic years in a row, dating back to 2012.

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