Teacher accused of snorting drugs during class loses license, SC officials say

A teacher who allegedly snorted drugs in front of his students, and later tested positive for cocaine, heroin and morphine, had his teaching license revoked by the South Carolina Board of Education earlier this month.

In October of last year a Richland County School District One student recorded their teacher, Percy M. Berry, snorting a substance off of his desk during class, according to minutes from a recent board of education meeting. A second video from the incident shows Berry wiping his nose and talking about “potentially losing a career in teaching.”

When administrators learned about the incident, they had Berry drug tested. Heroin, morphine, and cocaine were all found in his system, according to the minutes. He was fired Nov. 12.

While Berry lost his job with the district nearly a year ago, his teaching license was officially revoked by the state board of education on Sept. 8, after officials reviewed evidence supporting the allegations.

Before claims of Berry’s drug use surfaced, the board had never taken any disciplinary action against him in his 13 years of teaching in South Carolina, according to the documents.

Richland One confirmed he is no longer employed by the district.

This story was originally published September 15, 2020 at 12:42 PM.