Dr. Anne Elizabeth Cushing
A county school counselor who was among Signal Mountain Middle/High School faculty members suspended last April in connection with inappropriate alcohol use on a senior trip to the Bahamas is now facing DUI charges.
Dr. Anne Elizabeth Cushing was arrested following a wreck in the 3400 block of Taft Highway at 1:30 a.m. Saturday.
Dr. Cushing, 49, of 22 Majestic Oaks on Signal Mountain, is also charged with violating the implied consent law after refusing to have her blood-alcohol level tested.
A sheriff's deputy said he was dispatched to the accident scene and found Dr.
Cushing outside of her 2008 Jeep trying to walk out of some woods. He said she could not keep her balance and he helped her to her vehicle. She said she was not injured.
The officer said he could smell an odor of alcohol on her. He said she failed several field tests, including the walk and turn in which she "could not keep her balance and missed heel to toe on every step."
She was taken to the Hamilton County Jail.
Five of the faculty members on the Signal Mountain trip were suspended for 10 days without pay. Dr. Cushing and Dr. LeAnn Welch were suspended without pay for the remainder of the school year. Officials said infractions against them also involved alcohol on school property.