Carrollwood Elementary teacher jailed on drug charges

TAMPA -- A Carrollwood Elementary School teacher was arrested after police say she was found with cocaine and the prescription amphetamine Adderall near Hyde Park early this morning.

Jennifer Shepherd, 32 (left), was arrested by Tampa Police on the 600 block of Westland Avenue S around 3:15 a.m., when an officer spotted her trying to "conceal drugs behind her back," according to an arrest report.

Police then found Shepherd with an unspecified amount of cocaine, half an Adderall pill, a snorting tube and a stick used for cutting or sifting. The paraphernalia tested positive for cocaine, the report shows.

Although listed as a teacher at King High School in online jail records, Hillsborough County schools spokeswoman Linda Cobbe said Shepherd has been working at Carrollwood Elementary as a learning disabilities teacher since January. Shepherd oversees third, fourth and fifth-grade classes.

She has no previous disciplinary history with the Hillsborough School district, Cobbe said. Shepherd holds a bachelor of science from University of South Florida and a master's degree from NOVA Southeastern University, Cobbe said.

Prior to her hiring at Carrollwood Elementary in January, Shepherd worked for a semester as a special education resource teacher at a Pasco County school, Cobbe said. Before that, she was an educator at Land O' Lakes High School from 1997 to 2003, and later moved to King High School, where she worked as a special education teacher from 2003 to August 2007.

She has been placed on paid leave, Cobbe said.

Jail records show Shepherd charged with possession of cocaine, possession of a controlled substance, and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia. She was released from the Orient Road Jail this morning after posting $4,500 bail.

Clutching a plastic bag full of her belongings outside the jail this morning, Shepherd refused comment.

-- Casey Cora, Times staff writer

Photo courtesy Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office