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2nd-Grade Teacher In Hillsborough Arrested In Drug Deal

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By JOSH POLTILOVE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 14, 2008

Updated: 11/14/2008 07:45 pm

  Valerie Sabarese

A Summerfield Crossings Elementary School teacher has been charged with possession and delivery of heroin and crack cocaine, Hillsborough County deputies say.

Valerie Elaine Sabarese, 27, of Ruskin, conducted a hand-to-hand drug deal with undercover sheriff's detectives 6:15 p.m. Nov. 7, sheriff's spokesman J.D. Callaway said. She was arrested today after she left school property.

"She did tell us that she did use the drugs but she did not use them during the school hours," he said.

The second-grade teacher was arrested after deputies stopped her vehicle at U.S. 301 and County Road 672. She was arrested 3:40 p.m. and booked into jail at 7:25 p.m.

Deputies began the case with an investigation into her boyfriend.

Deputies became aware of her and ended up making a drug deal with her, Callaway said.

She delivered .3 grams of heroin and .3 grams of crack cocaine to undercover detectives at a convenience store at Fowler Avenue and 56th Street, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said in a statement. Callaway wasn't immediately aware of how much deputies paid for the drugs.

Sabarese earned a master's degree in teaching at the University of Pittsburgh, according to her MySpace page.

"I'm always doing something or have something to do!" she wrote on the page. "I'm always having a good time whatever it is I'm doing!"

She has been with the district since July 2007.

"We would send her a letter officially notifying her not to report to school," district spokesman Steve Hegarty said.

In these situations, he said, teachers are suspended with pay until the school board takes action.

Sabarese remained in Orient Road Jail today. Her bail was set at $19,000.

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