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Morgantown High Teacher Accused of Drinking on the Job
Posted Friday, October 9, 2009 ; 04:52 PM | View Comments | Post Comment
Updated Friday, October 9, 2009 ; 07:14 PM


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Student's MySpace video shows teacher dancing with a student in class.

Story by Jessika Lewis
Email | Bio | Other Stories by Jessika Lewis

MORGANTOWN -- A Morgantown High School teacher is being investigated for allegedly drinking on the job.

Lynn Clawges is still an employee of Monongalia County Schools, according to Superintendent Frank Devono, but is not working at the school now.

Devono declined to make any further comment on Clawges, saying the accusations against her are under investigation, but since it's a personnel matter he can't say anything more.

A report filed by Morgantown Police officers says they responded to the school at 3:22 p.m. Monday.

Principal Robert DeSantis told the officers that a teacher at the school was drunk when they arrived, the report says, and directed them to Clawges.

Officers smelled alcohol on Clawges' breath, and performed field sobriety tests on her, which she failed, according to the report.

Morgantown High School administrators asked the officers to give Clawges a preliminary breath test, which Clawges refused to submit to, the report states.

Officers found two empty Diet Pepsi bottles in Clawges' classroom that smelled of alcohol, and also discovered a full unopened bottle of the soft drink alongside a small bottle with a conditioner label on it that also had a strong alcohol odor, police reported.

Officers took no action in regards to this matter, according to Morgantown Police Lieutenant Mike Lantz.

No charges were filed against Clawges, according to the Monongalia County Prosecutor's Office, but Clawges was arrested for Driving Under the Influence on Jauary 24, 2008.

That case, according to the prosecutor's office, is still pending.

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User Comments [ post comment ]
User Comment
Mike Hess
10/21/09 at 7:06 AM
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Arden you are a complete idiot, that is easy to see after reading your comments. This should not have been handled discretely. What do you mean you cant fail a fields sobriety test unless you was driving, LOL. You should be put in jail just for being a idiot. Kat, you should share a cell with Arden, she is a drunk, not a diabetic
User Comment
Griffin
10/20/09 at 6:11 PM
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Acceptable use policy or not, I'm glad the student posted this online. Parents need to know what's going on in their childrens' schools. From other comments, it seems that this has been going on for years. If that is true, and the school has covered it up, more heads should roll.
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Bryan
10/13/09 at 11:30 AM
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She will get off with a slap on the wrist because of the political connection she has. Plus the teacher union will back her up and get her out of it..isn't that what unions are good for lazy " Drunk " workers??
User Comment
Rae
10/13/09 at 8:00 AM
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Bill, you don't know the whole story do you? No one "ratted out Clawges." There were a few of her students roaming the halls and were stopped and asked what they were doing! After taking the kids back to the class, they saw the condition Clawges was in and called the cops, which they had the right to do. They *found* empty Pepsi and a hair conditioner bottle that smelled of alcohol, as did she. Clawges has a LONG history of drinking and teaching her classes, I've heard the stories. As for the videotape, a student taped her on a cell phone. Go to Myspace and type in Mrs. Clawges and search the video section...there will be 5-6 come up. You can see what a fool she was and hear the kids telling her, it would be on myspace that day! She was fine with it. Her response to that, told me she was in an altered state! Her getting caught is the best thing that ever happened to her students.

Wendysue---how do you know she went to work "tipsy"? Are you the one who ratted her out to cops? Why did you not go to administration at MHS first? Plus, why are students allowed to videotape in class? This, too, is clearly against Board policy!!! So, students, rather than principals run MHS? The principal is wiping his hands clean and saying he could not do anything since the students had already videotaped! Cell phones are not even allowed at schools! Does anyone out there really know the Safe School Law?
User Comment
kelley
10/12/09 at 8:27 PM
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i find it hard to believe that none of the faculty could tell that she was drunk when her students did. quit trying to pretend that the cell phone usage is the major issue here-- it's not at all. the teacher needs help and hopefully this will help her get some. she is clearly an alcoholic. she is not fit to run a classroom.
User Comment
rosey
10/12/09 at 8:16 PM
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Obviously, the public does not know enough about the underhanded ways of the Central Office of Mon. BOE.........We simply cannot have Central Office people "in charge" when dealing w/this type of situation........Those (Central Office) people are just puppets for the BOE! They have no real/humane responses.......They just try to pass the blame to teachers....WHAT ABOUT Local SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION???????.......This MHS situation calls up many questions.........Who is in charge?
User Comment
arden
10/12/09 at 7:24 PM
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To Nobama: Who are you kidding w/the zero tolerance? Most Mon. Co. school administrators avoid the WV Safe School Laws to the nth degree! They don't want "their" school to "look bad" on paper! You really do not know enough about how our county schools are run.........Start at the top and get rid of most county administrators who lie, coverup, conceal, etc. to deny SAFE SCHOOL LAW in WV. Ask a real teacher, and you will begin to glean info about what really goes on in our county schools......... The real problem lies w/administration!!!
User Comment
bill
10/12/09 at 6:38 PM
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Give me a break-----who's in charge? This is a lack of proper channeling by Mon. BOE administrators!

Wendysue---how do you know she went to work "tipsy"? Are you the one who ratted her out to cops? Why did you not go to administration at MHS first? Plus, why are students allowed to videotape in class? This, too, is clearly against Board policy!!! So, students, rather than principals run MHS? The principal is wiping his hands clean and saying he could not do anything since the students had already videotaped! Cell phones are not even allowed at schools! Does anyone out there really know the Safe School Law?
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NoBama
10/12/09 at 4:51 PM
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This lady should be drawn & quartered......there is a zero-tolerance policy for students when it comes to alcohol, drugs, knives, guns, tylenol, motrin, no-doz, pamprin, you name it........but a teacher is above the law........unless just like in this case - its only illegal if you get caught.

My son goes to MHS & it is widely known that she is a lush, is routinely loaded in class & was even caught by school officials last year & it was covered up.

After mandatory rehab, she needs to be fired & her teaching license revoked. Good riddance to an obvious non-functioning alchoholic.
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bigun
10/12/09 at 1:57 PM
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Looks like anotther teacher cracked under the pressure! NO suport from the administration, absolutely NONE from a Board Office that is only worried about hiring more assistant superintendents, and how to get their hands on more tax payer $! A school system that is run on threats and intimidation is lucky that alot more bad things aren't being reported. A bunch of incompetent people trying to lead the teachers! Makes us all wonder how much of this stuff is being covered up?
User Comment
Rae
10/12/09 at 1:27 PM
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Thanks MHS mom!

I'm getting sicker by the minute reading about this story! I mean come on, she was drunk in class, acting a fool, dancing with students, taken away by police & failed a field sobriety test and refused a breathalyzer (she knew she was hammered!) and all this is to the Monongalia BOE Superintendent, Frank Devono is a "personnel matter." No Mr. Devono, it's a PUBLIC problem and a very large one! She was teaching our children, who we send to school five days a week, and who we supposedly trust them with! A mature adult with good morals, not a sloppy drunk who chats on her cell phone, surfs the internet, plays movies for the students instead of teaching them! UGH....something is terribly wrong with this picture! Mr. Devono, the video of Lynn Clawges told the entire story...she was drunk and making a total idiot of herself as she was trying to dance with a teenage boy! I sure in the hell hope she's not getting paid while off for being drunk in class, if so, you really are a poor choice for the superintendent of Mon County Schools. Actually, I lost all respect in you after I read "it's a personnel matter that's under investigation," comment you made. I'm appalled at this entire ordeal. Lynn Clawges should not allowed to teach at all, she's shown the type of teacher she is and I don't want her anywhere near my Nephew or other children of my friends who attend MHS. Fire her NOW!
User Comment
former wv teacher
10/12/09 at 12:57 PM
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The principal was absolutely right to call the police. When the board goes to terminate her (as they should), they will be in a much better position with the evidence that they now have rather than anecdotal evidence that they would have had without the police assistance.
User Comment
wendysue
10/12/09 at 12:29 PM
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omg!she went to work tipsy,write her up and put it in her jacket,parents think teachers are so perfect,well They Make Mistakes 2
User Comment
WV
10/12/09 at 12:10 PM
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Is Bill stupid?? Enough said..
User Comment
Judge Dread
10/12/09 at 11:11 AM
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People, the innocent till proven guilty rule only applies to the State in its prosecution of the accused, not to the public or the press. We are free to judge guilt or innocence as we please.
User Comment
Icantbelieveit
10/12/09 at 9:44 AM
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If a student gets caught drinking and possessing alcohol at school, they get suspended for 10 days and have to do alcohol education classes and they have criminal charges filed against them. I think the teachers should be held to higher standards than the students. So what if she's not teaching right now? It means she's basically getting a paid vacation for drinking in front of our kids. I hope criminal charges are filed, and i hope she loses her job. She's had the reputation as a terrible teacher for YEARS. Time to get her out of there and get a decent teacher and decent human being in there to really educate our kids, not to entertain them and act like a jackass for the class period. Teachers should be held to a higher standard. Criminals should not be allowed to teach our kids. They are role models for the youth of Morgantown. If they cannot handle that responsibility, I know that WVU graduates many new teachers evey year who need jobs!
User Comment
Why are people excusing this?
10/12/09 at 8:12 AM
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I thought educators were paid to teach, not clown around in class (while under the influence) with their students? Where are all of you so-called Christians who pipe up with moral outrage? How do you feel about this lewd and lascivious behavior exhibited here by a woman entrusted with our youth?

So this is why I see so much alcoholism and drunkenness and rude and obnoxious carrying on by college kids in Morgantown, it is not only socially acceptable, but encouraged! No wonder this country is going down the tubes!
User Comment
sweeeeeeet!
10/12/09 at 7:54 AM
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sweeeeeeeeeet another drunk teacher in the school system great we will all kick back and crack open a few frosty one and life is good! right!
User Comment
glad my kids don't go there
10/12/09 at 1:50 AM
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What a sad day for education. How can you expect students to respect their elders when this is what is teaching them. My children attend school in a neighboring county and they come home with stories of teachers disrespecting them, and carrying on in the classroom, but nothing like this. This is ludicrious! But overall, the entire education system in West virginia needs an overhaul, and stop putting more demands on teachers and staff to teach to take the westtest, or any other kind of standardized test, and let the good teachers teach. I mean, I don't remember growing up with "Content standard and objectives" and I turned out o.k. To the comments about possibly being a diabetic. I work in the medical field, and sometimes a diabetic will have an acetone breath that mimmicks alcohol, but I highly doubt a person having a diabetic emergency would begin dancing in front of her class with another student. Thank goodness she didn't have a pole in her classroom! Clean up our whole education system now, please!
User Comment
bill
10/11/09 at 8:35 PM
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Is the BOE stupid? Is the Dominon Post stupid? Are cops stupid?Nuff said......
User Comment
frank
10/11/09 at 6:21 PM
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I agree w/Arden......Mon. Co. BOE has no handle on what goes on in the schools, because most administrators are just teachers who could not perform well in the classroom and decided that furthering their education (in the same field) was far easier than getting a totally different degree. I have two children in the system, who have had wonderful teachers, but horrible administrators....... Go figure. Talk to some of the administrators at the local schools----they have no clue what goes on in their own schools.
User Comment
arden
10/11/09 at 6:12 PM
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The principal should have handled it discretely. The police should not have been called. A person cannot fail a field sobriety test when the person is not driving. Poor judgement on part of MHS officials.....Overall, administrators in Monongalia Co. are just teachers who could not stand being in the classroom.......thus the theory: SH__ __ FLOATS. In other words, most administrators are just the worst educators in the system. We need to take a drastic look at "who is in charge" in Monongalia Co. Devono and Co. do not have any control over administration in Mon. Co.
User Comment
asddas
10/11/09 at 11:15 AM
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Well, if not passing a sobriety test, smelling like alcohol, dancing like that infront of her students... Seriously, if someone asked her to start barking she probably would have. If that doesn't prove that she is guilty, honestly don't know what would. I had her when I was a freshman in High School, and she really wasn't exactly the best teacher ever either.
User Comment
arden
10/11/09 at 10:43 AM
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No names should have been provided, period. Obviously, some of the people who have commented on here are just interested in hearsay instead of facts. US law: Innocent until PROVEN guilty!!!!!!
User Comment
MHSmom
10/11/09 at 8:40 AM
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My daughter goes to MHS and I'd be SO mad if Clawges had been her teadher! And Rae, I agree 100% with your posts! :)
User Comment
mark
10/11/09 at 7:02 AM
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Cmon people, what ever happened to the concept of "INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY", or is this another trial by media case? Also, do you think that if this was the wife,mother,relative, or even friend of a WBOY executive or someone "higher up" at the Dominion Post that this case would be publicized like this (or even publicized at all)? I SERIOUSLY doubt it! It is just like the Dominion Post putting stories AND PICTURES of some people that get arrested in Mon County for DUI or similar offenses, and failing to put any story at all about other people that are GUILTY of the same crime. I like to call it SELECTIVE EMBARRASMENT! If you dont believe me ask around, or check it out for yourself!
User Comment
Rae
10/11/09 at 12:57 AM
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I think her having a relative (Judge Clawges, her husbands cousin) has helped her a *great* deal in Mon County! Two years and waiting? Give me a break! I heard she was getting help for her drinking in the past, but obviously it did not work.
User Comment
jm
10/10/09 at 9:43 PM
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i graduated from mhsin 94 & i was in her class & she was always acting a fool. she would stumble & sometimes even slurr her words. so i think that it could have even been going on back then along with who knows what else
User Comment
Steve
10/10/09 at 9:26 PM
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"No charges were filed against Clawges, according to the Monongalia County Prosecutor's Office, but Clawges was arrested for Driving Under the Influence on Jauary 24, 2008. That case, according to the prosecutor's office, is still pending. "

Un Frikin' beliveable... If I walked into ANY school, under the influnce, or even walked downtown on a public street drunk, I'd be taken to jail, charged & tried in court. How does a teacher rate waiting almost 2 years on a DUI trial??!! Does the teacher's union have THAT much pull with the PA office in Mon County? :-) Teachers sign a contract that includes a "morals clause" for situations like this. This poor lady needs help WITH her problem... not help HIDEING it !

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Kat
10/10/09 at 8:45 PM
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I don't know the woman or anything about her, just offering one possible reason. I know that many do like to convict before all details are in. If she is guilty, by all means, get her as far away from the children as possible. It is hard enough for them to get an education as it is these days without some like that influencing them.
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audrey
10/10/09 at 7:53 PM
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come on what does have being a diabetic have to do with anything my dad is diabetic and he sure doesnt smell of alcohol, thats some crazy nonsense u pulled from your A$$,,
User Comment
Rae
10/10/09 at 3:09 PM
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Lynn Clawges is not a diabetic! Arden, give me a break, she's been acting a fool in our kids classrooms for a few years now! I did hear she gave some of the students drinks from her bottles! UGH, come on people, obviously she's an alcoholic and should NOT be teaching at MHS...what kind of message is she sending to them? That it's okay to get hammered early in the day and leave the school in this condition and DRIVE? I don't think so. Her teaching days should be OVER and further more, what in the hell is wrong with Devono? Not protecting the students and their safety in the classroom? Clawges should be terminated immediately! Deveno needs to open his eyes and smell Clawges Pepsi & hair conditioner bottles! Watch all the videos of Clawges on myspace...you hear a student say, "this is all we did last year." meaning Clawges not doing her job! Get rid if of her now!
User Comment
Amanda
10/10/09 at 1:39 PM
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If she was diabetic and smelling of alcohol and failing a the field test she wouldn't be able to do the stanky leg dance.....
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Kat
10/10/09 at 11:42 AM
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Did anyone happen to think that if she is diabetic, she will not only act, but also smell and will most likely fail a sobriety test. She may not be as guilty as every one is assuming she is.
User Comment
A
10/10/09 at 9:08 AM
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They aren't trying to convict her of anything, they're just reporting more details. I just watched this story video on WDTV.com and they didn't show any clips of the video in question or include any police comments. Their report is quite vague and I'm sure it's not because they're attempting to be fair, they just didn't get any information on the subject. I think WBOY does a fine job of reporting the news. There is no bias in this story or any that I've seen or read, they just dig a little deeper to find more facts to report. And there is no privacy violation here, I believe every word in this story is legal public record.
User Comment
A Teacher
10/9/09 at 11:10 PM
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The school board requires students to complete an acceptable use contract for all technology in the schools, including personal cell phones.

Regardless of the teacher's possibly altered state, the student (by county policy) should not have posted this video on the internet.
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WVURN
10/9/09 at 10:14 PM
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Sounds like they are doing their job and providing the facts on this matter. She smelled of alcohol, had containers that smelled like alcohol, and failed a sobriety test. We can draw our own conclusions. But I certainly don't want her teaching my kids.
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arden
10/9/09 at 6:24 PM
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It is appalling that the Dominion Post, Channel 12, and others are trying to convict someone before a trial.........The government and the "police state" that we live under does not grant rights of privacy as stated in the constitution!

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