Teacher faces drug charges

By Times staff writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published May 3, 2002

Cary Wolf, 35, an eighth-grade teacher at Williams Middle School in Tampa, was placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.

TAMPA -- Police arrested a Williams Middle School teacher who lives in Wesley Chapel on Thursday and charged him with smoking marijuana in the school's parking lot.

After getting a tip about alleged drug use, Tampa police conducted a surveillance of Cary Rolf, 35, at the school. Police said Rolf left the school about 10:30 a.m. Thursday and went to his Chevrolet Camaro, where officers observed him smoking a pipe. He was arrested and charged with one count of possession of marijuana and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia. He was booked into the Hillsborough jail and held on $1,000 bond. No students were involved. School officials immediately placed Rolf on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation. He faces possible termination.

Rolf, of 32022 Brookstone Drive, has been an eighth-grade math teacher at Williams since 1999. He began teaching in the district in 1998, serving in various positions at Plant City High, Eisenhower Middle and Durant High. Records show he was arrested twice in 1997 in Hillsborough County and charged with making obscene phone calls.

After Thursday's arrest, school officials met with eighth-graders, some of whom expressed disbelief, said school spokesman Mark Hart. Letters were sent home to parents. School counselors will be available today. "If the allegations are true, it's a very serious offense," Hart said. "Teachers in particular are held to a higher standard."

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