LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – A teacher at King Elementary School has twice been convicted of driving under the influence in about a year, the latest coming after an ex found her passed out inside her truck at the Elizabethtown police station while picking up her son in November.
But records obtained by WDRB News do not show any evidence that Rachel Merry, 32, notified administrators of either arrest or faced any disciplinary action.
JCPS Communications Director Renee Murphy, who indicated that JCPS policy requires teachers to inform administrators of arrests, declined to comment on questions regarding whether Merry followed that policy and whether disciplinary action would follow, saying the district does not comment on personnel matters.
“What I can tell you, speaking generally, is that misdemeanor convictions are not reported to the Education Professional Standards Board unless it is relevant to their profession, happened at school or involved students,” Murphy said in an email Monday. “All teachers in the district have a Child Abuse and Neglect screening to see if there have been any past problems before they are employed.”
WDRB News requested emails between Merry and King Elementary Principal Stephanie White and Assistant Principal LaKeasha Jones around the times of both arrests as well as her personnel file.
Hardin District Court records show she pleaded guilty to driving under the influence Aug. 2, 2017, and Feb. 14. In the latest case, her driver’s license was suspended for 18 months.
Merry, who has been a teacher at King Elementary since Jan. 3, 2011, did not return email or phone messages seeking comment. The school’s website lists her as a reading recovery teacher.
Arrest records show King was first arrested Dec. 21, 2016, in Elizabethtown after she failed a field sobriety test. It’s unclear why police stopped Merry, who refused to take a breathalyzer and told police she had one mixed drink a couple of hours earlier while watching the basketball game between the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville.
The prosecutor in the case said in a court filing that Merry “stated she thought she was fine, she was stupid, and she should have just stayed home” while en route to the Hardin County Detention Center.
Merry was required to complete an alcohol or substance abuse education treatment program, attend a DUI victim impact panel and pay $764 in court costs by Jan. 30, according to court records. She was sentenced to a day in jail and had her licenses suspended for 120 days, records show.
But less than a month after her probation in that case was terminated, Merry was back behind bars for her second DUI. This time, she was found passed out in her truck while waiting for her ex to drop off their son at the Elizabethtown Police Department.
An officer wrote in the arrest citation that Merry was “slumped over” the center console and wouldn’t wake up when he knocked on the window of her Ford F-150, which was left running. The officer had to open her door and turn the truck off before she woke, and he wrote that Merry “had very slurred speech and did not make sense when talking” and “smelled very strong of alcohol in conversation.”
Merry’s preliminary breath test yielded a .23, nearly three times the .08 legal limit, but she refused to take a breathalyzer or field sobriety test. Officers found a Smirnoff vodka bottle and a Diet Mountain Dew bottle in the front passenger area of her truck, court records show.
After pleading guilty Feb. 14, Merry was ordered to serve 14 days in jail with 90 days probated, complete another alcohol or substance abuse education treatment program, attend another DUI victim impact panel and pay $889 in court costs by July 31. Her license was suspended for 18 months in that case, court records show.
Reach reporter Kevin Wheatley at 502-585-0838 and kwheatley@wdrb.com. Follow him on Twitter @KevinWheatleyKY.
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