TEACHER ADMITS SNORTING COCAINE IN CLASS

Fourth-Grade Pupils At Lew-Port School Say They Witnessed Substitute
Using Drugs

LEWISTON - A substitute teacher who admitted snorting cocaine in
front of her fourth-grade pupils will be arraigned Feb. 21 in Town
Court on charges that could send her to jail for up to three years,
police said Friday.

Joan M. Donatelli, 59, a Lewiston-Porter substitute who lives in the
Town of Lewiston, has been charged with criminal possession of a
controlled substance and two counts of endangering the welfare of a
child. Each count carries fines and up to a year in jail.

Sgt. Frank J. Previte of the Lewiston Police Department said the
incident occurred Feb. 1 while Donatelli was teaching at the
Intermediate Education Center in the Lewiston-Porter Central School District.

Two of her pupils said they saw Donatelli use the cap of a pen to
scoop the contents of a small plastic bag and place it to her nose,
Previte said. They reported the incident to the principal, Tamara
Larson, who in turn told Don W. Rappold, interim superintendent of schools.

Lewiston police officers checked the classroom that evening and found
some trace evidence, Previte said.

When Previte went to Donatelli's house later that evening, she
admitted doing cocaine in the classroom and disposing of the contents
of the bag in the school washroom after being interviewed by Rappold.

Donatelli gave police the small plastic bag and two pen caps, which
tested positive for cocaine in the Niagara County Sheriff's Office
forensic laboratory, Previte said.

Rappold sent out a letter to parents, assuring them the school
district is fully cooperating with the authorities, and, pending the
outcome of the case, the teacher has been banned from the campus.

Telephone calls to Donatelli's house Friday were not returned.