Candyce Carter, a 2nd grade teacher at Spotswood Elementary, was arrested last week at the school and charged with possession of narcotics and felony child endangerment.
Candyce Carter, the Spotsylvania teacher who was arrested last week on drug and child endangerment charges, did not include her three-month employment with Fredericksburg City Public Schools on her application with Spotsylvania County Public Schools, division spokeswoman Rene Daniels said Thursday.
Carter was hired on November 11, 2023, to teach 2nd grade at Spotswood Elementary School, Daniels said. Carter had previously worked at Spotswood from July 28, 2022, through June 30, 2023.
Daniels said the division does “complete reference checks for our rehires, and we ask principals to speak with a prior supervisor.”
But because Carter did not mention employment in Fredericksburg, her prior supervisor, as far as Spotsylvania knew, was the principal who was rehiring her at Spotswood, Daniels said.
“In this case, the Spotswood principal was her previous supervisor as Ms. Carter did not include employment with FCPS on her application submitted in November 2023,” Daniels wrote Thursday in response to questions the Advance submitted earlier this week.
The Advance spoke to multiple parents who were in Carter’s 5th grade class at Hugh Mercer Elementary in Fredericksburg. The parents said they raised concerns about Carter’s behavior with administration based on what they heard from their children and witnessed personally.
The parents said they were told Carter’s colleagues at Hugh Mercer had also raised concerns.
Carter resigned from Hugh Mercer sometime in the fall and the Fredericksburg School Board approved her resignation at its November 6, 2023, meeting.
She was rehired at Spotswood five days later.
by Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
