TEACHER SOUGHT ON DRUG CHARGE

A Boston elementary school teacher was placed on leave without pay and
a warrant was issued for his arrest yesterday, a day after police
arrested him outside a Dorchester drug house where he allegedly bought
crack cocaine.

Police had released 39-year-old Oliver Wendell Homes School teacher
Charles Jones of Roxbury on $125 cash bail Thursday night with the
provision that he appear in court yesterday. A default warrant was
issued for his arrest when he didn't show up.

Jones did not report to school yesterday, school officials
said.

Criminal records show that Jones has three prior convictions for armed
and unarmed robbery in 1993 and 1994.

Jones failed to appear at an arraignment yesterday on charges of
possession of crack cocaine, according to the Suffolk district
attorney's office.

A Boston public schools spokeswoman, Tracey Lynch, said Jones was put
on administrative leave without pay pending the investigation. Lynch
said Jones had briefly worked as a substitute in the school system in
1992 and 1993, then resumed work as a replacement teacher last year.

''We obviously take this very seriously,'' said Lynch. ''Certainly in
any instance where criminal charges are involved, our primary concern
has to be the safety and well-being of the students.''

Lynch said school policy requires background checks for all employees
before they are hired. It was unclear yesterday when the background
check was done for Jones or why the check missed his three robbery
convictions.

Police said yesterday that Jones was arrested about 9 p.m. Thursday
after he and two other suspects came out of a suspected drug house
near the corner of Bullard and Rosseter streets. Officers from the
department's drug unit have been targeting drug houses in the area in
an ongoing investigation.

Police said that after watching Jones buy drugs from one of the
suspects, officers arrested the two men and found a small rock of
crack cocaine wrapped in a $10 bill inside Jones's wallet. A crack
pipe was also found in a brown leather bag Jones was carrying, police
said.

Carl S. Horton, 30, of Dorchester, who allegedly sold Jones the drugs,
was charged with distributing cocaine. A woman who was with Jones and
Horton was not charged.

As news of the charges against Jones spread through the Holmes School
at the end of the school day yesterday, teachers and parents said they
were shocked at the allegations. ''If you ever met him, you would
never suspect him as someone who had symptoms of a drug user,'' said
one teacher who asked not to be named. ''He had a wonderful rapport
with the kids, he was great with discipline, with everything.''

In 1993, Jones received a suspended sentence after being convicted on
two counts of armed robbery. He was placed on probation. In 1994, he
was convicted on a charge of unarmed robbery and was given a
six-to-10-year prison sentence. It was unclear yesterday how much
prison time Jones served.

Valeria Norman, whose son Troy had Jones for a teacher, said he had
helped Troy overcome academic and emotional difficulties stemming from
the deaths of two relatives.

''This is devastating,'' said Norman. ''Under Mr. Jones, my son had
really taken a turnaround. His whole attitude had changed for the
positive .... I guess you have to be careful who teaches your kids
these days.''