Police in Syracuse, Utah, arrested Buffalo Point Elementary School teacher Claudia Reaney Thursday after finding a stash of heroin in the 49-year-old's car.
Authorities also discovered drug paraphernalia and heroin residue in the third-grade teacher's purse, which was recovered inside her classroom, along with trace amounts of the drug within the room, according to local reports.
Syracuse police searched the elementary school parking lot using drug-sniffing dogs, following an anonymous tip. After the dogs probed Reaney's red Chevy Sonic, the police obtained a search warrant for her vehicle and classroom, reports Utah news site Standard-Examiner.
Police lieutenant Tracy Jensen said the amount of heroin found suggests Reaney may have been using "four to five times per day, for a couple months at least," according to local TV station KSL.
Reaney, who has been teaching at Buffalo Point since 2008, is facing second-degree felony possession of a controlled substance, since the drug was found within 1,000 feet of school property, as well as felony possession of paraphernalia.
She was released on $5,000 bail Friday, but has been placed on administrative leave while she awaits her court date, the Salt Lake Tribune reports.
Earlier this month, an elementary school special education teacher in Virginia was arrested after heroin was found in her possession on school property.