TAMPA — A Carrollwood Elementary School teacher was arrested after police say she was found with cocaine and the prescription amphetamine Adderall approach Hyde Park early that dawn.

Jennifer Shepherd, 32, was arrested by Tampa Police on the 600 block of Westland Avenue S around 3:15 a.m., according to jail records.

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 preceding 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, later moving to August 2007 as a special education teacher at King High School in Tampa.

Jail records show Shepherd charged with possession of cocaine, possession of a controlled substance, and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia. She remains at the Orient Road Jail. Bail was set at $4.500.

– Casey Cora, Times staff writer

Photo courtesy Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office

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