At the end of the day March 21, Ms. Erica Canup was arrested with two charges, 273A(B) PC and 647(F) PC, on campus.

Students in the classroom at the time shared what they witnessed during their eighth period LA COM III class. Canup was asked to leave her classroom by Assistant Principal Mrs. Jennifer Hanks and AP Literature teacher Mr. Patrick Gale.

“After the bell rang to start class, [Canup] didn’t come in. Instead Mr. Gale and Mrs. Hanks walked in and took over the class, and they didn’t say a word about Ms. Canup, which seemed kind of odd,” Austin Shields said.

Later, Rocklin Police Department reported on Placer County Jail Daily Jail Register 24 Hour Booking & Release Report that Canup was arrested by a peace officer with the charges of 273A(B) PC and 647(F) PC. Thus, the first charge is described as child endangerment, and willfully permitting a child to be placed in a dangerous situation. Canup was charged a second time for being drunk in public, or willfully being under the influence in a public place. Canup’s bail is set for $5,000.

With it being the first week of the fourth quarter, students worry about how their classwork will be affected.

“Most of us worked really hard without getting any help from her. It puts us students in a tough position because we have an ESA speech that’s due soon, and now we don’t have any guidance on what to do with our classwork and other assignments,” Sophia Dye said.

The LA COM III presentation on controversial investigations is the students’ most important assignment of the year, worth 150 ESA points in total.

“I’m not sure what to think. Everyone is just not knowing whether things will be loosened up for us, or if we are going to be screwed over without a teacher to help,” Shields said.

However, students said that Canup has been struggling with personal issues and they want the best for her.

“At first it sounded kinda crazy, but honestly I’m not surprised. When you think of someone, especially a teacher, coming to school drunk, you think of someone very irresponsible and reckless, but I do not think of her as those things. I think she just needs help with what is going on for her. However, it is scary and not a safe situation, so I’m glad it was taken care of before anything really bad happened,” Shields said.

Canup is ineligible for bond and her custody status is bail bond, meaning she has a written promise agreeing to appear in court at the scheduled date and time. From there, the court will establish a bail amount.

Although administrators declined to be interviewed and will not comment on personnel issues, Whitney High Student Media staff will be updating readers as further information becomes available.

by MADILYN SINDELAR and LIZZIE SALVATO