LEW-PORT: TEACHER WON'T FACE FELONY CHARGES

Distinction Drops Maximum Penalty For Substitute Who Allegedly Used
Cocaine In School

A substitute teacher accused of using cocaine while on the job in the
Lewiston-Porter School District won't be subject to enhanced
penalties for using it in a drug-free zone, the Niagara County
district attorney said.

Joan M. Donatelli, 59, of the Town of Lewiston, was charged at 4:50
p.m. Tuesday with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled
substance and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child. She
is accused of using cocaine while substituting for a fourth-glade
classroom in the Lewiston-Porter Intermediate Education Center on
Feb. 1, according to Lewiston Police Department Sgt. Frank Previte.

The district's drug policy states that as a drug-free zone, anyone
caught with drugs in their possession within 1,000 feet is subject to
an enhanced penalty of up to 16 years in prison. Since these three
charges are all Class A misdemeanors, though, this case would not be
subject to that policy, District Attorney Matt Murphy said.

"If they were Class D felonies, sometimes those gets enhanced," he
said. "These crimes don't qualify."

As Class A misdemeanors, the charges against Donatelli carry a
penalty of up to one year in county jail each, he said.

Donatelli was seen by at least two students using what they thought
was drugs on Feb. 1, Previte said. A follow-up investigation and
testing showed Donatelli used cocaine on school grounds that day, he said.

Donatelli taught first grade full-time in the district from Sept. 1,
1969, through June 30, 2003, and spent time as first-grade department
chairperson, district clerk Debra Sherman said. She has served a
substitute since retiring from full-time service.

As a substitute, Donatelli was not represented by the Lewiston-Porter
United Teachers union, but was a member while serving the district full time.

"She was an excellent, wonderful teacher," said union president Jean
Henesey on Friday.

Henesey said the district has a strong emphasis on character
education and training for its students and this incident is evidence
that it is paying off.

"I am truly thankful that the students felt comfortable enough and
safe enough to go to an administrator or teacher to tell them what
they saw," she said.

Superintendent Don Rappold sent a letter home to parents last week
informing them that "a substitute teacher in your child's classroom
may have a substance abuse problem." Donatelli has been banned from
the school campus since Feb. 1, the letter said.

"Mr. Rappold's letter to the parents of the affected students is the
district's official response," School Board President David Schaubert
wrote in an e-mail. "As a district parent, while I am disappointed
that this type of event occurs in any school, much less the one that
my daughter attends, I feel that the students, the building
principal, the district administration and the Lewiston Police have
all contained and addressed the situation properly."

Citing a motion he made four years ago to enhance drug and alcohol
checks for district employees, which archived board minutes state
address random screening, testing school board members and when the
district can screen an employee, school board member Ed Lilly feels
the district should be doing more to curtail potential drug use.

"Many board members still prefer to keep serious financial and social
problems from the public," he said in a statement. "Accepting reality
and taking corrective measures is the best way to serve the community
. just because this person got caught in a net doesn't mean it can't
happen to someone else."

Donatelli was issued appearance tickets Tuesday and released. She is
scheduled to appear at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 21 in Lewiston Town Court, Previte said.