AFTON TEACHER WINS APPEAL, GETS JOB BACK

The Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals on Thursday ordered the Afton School
District to reinstate a teacher who was fired amid drug allegations.
Carolyn Weaver, 50, and her husband, Joe Weaver, 48, a former Watts
principal, were arrested Aug. 27, 2000, on drug complaints when narcotics
agents spotted an 8-foot-tall marijuana plant growing behind the couple's
home on Grand Lake.

Weaver was dismissed from her job in November 2000 on grounds of "moral
turpitude, neglect of duty and incompetence."

Her attorney, Richard O'Carroll, said the appeals court reversed District
Judge Robert Haney's Ottawa County decision and sent the case back and
instructed the judge to reinstate Carolyn Weaver after finding there was no
evidence she knew about her husband's drug use.

Weaver voluntarily submitted to a drug test after her arrest. Results
showed she was negative for any traces of drugs.

"Carolyn is very pleased with the court's decision and feels exonerated,"
O'Carroll said. "She is looking forward to returning to the Afton School
District next fall."

Charges against Carolyn Weaver were dismissed in October 2000 after the
district attorney's office failed to prove she had any knowledge of drugs
or of her husband's involvement with drugs during their 30-year marriage.

Joe Weaver received a deferred sentence in March 2001 after he pleaded no
contest in Delaware County District Court to a felony charge of cultivating
marijuana and guilty to a misdemeanor charge of marijuana possession. He
has resigned from his job at Watts.

Carolyn Weaver declined to comment.