Teacher Larry Michaels was arrested Friday after the school called deputies to report he was intoxicated.
As parents came to pick up their kids from Curran Middle School Tuesday afternoon, many were concerned about the arrest.
Yolanda Duax has a child who attends the school. But she didn't believe his story of the arrest until she saw it on TV. Then she had to find out for herself.
"I said what's going on?" she said. "I wasn't even informed of what's going on. So I called the office and asked."
But Duax wasn't given any information.
Steve Gabbitas, spokesperson for the Bakersfield City School District, told 17 News the incident is a personnel matter, which is why parents were not told Friday.
Parent Victor Hicks didn't hear of the arrest until news reporters told him after school Tuesday.
He commends the school for calling deputies.
"I think they handled it okay," he said. "They seen there was a problem and they dealt with it."
On Friday, just after noon, deputies were called to Curran Middle School to check on Michaels.
"They believed they had a staff member who was under the influence of alcohol or some form of medication and was having difficulty teaching in the classroom," said Senior Deputy Michael Whorf.
Whorf said the teacher was taken out of the classroom and to the office to be evaluated.
Deputies found enough to place Michaels under arrest.
"They evaluated him and developed probable cause to believe that he was in fact intoxicated or impaired to the point that he was unable to care for his safety or the safety of his class," he said.
Duax was still looking for an explanation from the school Tuesday afternoon.
"What I'm after is that to inform parents right away like with a note or something."
Michaels is on paid administration leave.
17 News has learned that there is no specification in board policy for drunk teachers on campus.
Michaels case will be investigated and then the school district's attorneys will make a recommendation to the board on Larry Michaels status.
Michaels is out on bail. He faces a charge of willful cruelty to a child and public intoxication.
He has not answered our requests for an interview.
