- Farmington parents demand increased transparency after a teacher allegedly drank alcohol in class.
- Their daughter, Flor, reportedly consumed some of the alcohol, raising concerns about oversight.
- The teacher resigned; parents seek improved communication for vulnerable students' safety.
FARMINGTON — A Davis County family is seeking increased transparency after they learned their daughter's special education teacher was allegedly drinking alcohol in class.
Kim and Devin Perry said they were notified by a Davis School District spokesperson that their daughter, Flor, had experienced an unexpected school day three days prior.
"She had a fall at school and hit her head," Kim Perry said. "We were told that her teacher had been inebriated at school." Not only that, she said the spokesperson told them that Flor had also sipped an alcoholic beverage.
"There was no way of telling how much she consumed — and she's developmentally delayed, the age of a 2-year-old," Kim Perry said.
A district spokesman later confirmed that the teacher, Katherine Meatoga, admitted to "having hard seltzer in a stainless steel tumbler," and that a student "took possession of the employee's mug." Before the district could close its investigation, the spokesman said Meatoga had resigned.
"The Davis School District and our community have high expectations for educators," he said. "Unfortunately, in this circumstance, an employee violated that trust. We do not tolerate the possession or consumption of alcohol on school premises."
Meatoga was charged in the 2nd District Court in Farmington with possession and/or consumption of an alcoholic beverage at school, a class B misdemeanor, stemming from a March 18 incident. The citation is not available to the public
Yet, for the Perrys, this isn't the first time something like this has happened.
In 2022, the Perrys said Flor was abused by a teacher at another school.
"I feel disbelief," Devin Perry said. "Here we go again."
The family, however, hopes that Flor can stay at her school.
"She wakes up every morning excited to go," Devin Perry said. "The aides in the classroom have been amazing."
It's leadership and oversight that the Perrys hope will change, as well as increased transparency at the school.
"The district said they didn't tell us because they didn't have a witness report until several days later," Devin Perry said. "These are vulnerable, nonverbal students who can't come home and say, 'Hey, something weird happened at school today.' We're trusting that the district is taking care of them and being open with us about things that occur."
Flor, who is 21 years old, has a rare genetic disease called 1p36 deletion syndrome. She can't speak, but her mother said she knows 20 different signs she uses to communicate.
"She will say 'yes' or 'no,' but she couldn't verbalize something significant that happened to her at school," Kim Perry said.
The Perrys adopted Flor from Ecuador when she was 7, but Kim Perry met Flor when she was a baby.
Before they were married, the couple exchanged letters. Devin Perry was serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Kim was serving at an orphanage in Ecuador.
"I just fell in love with her," Kim Perry said. "She had a sweet personality back then."
At that time, Kim Perry didn't even realize she would one day marry Devin Perry.
"When we both turned 25, he surprised me with a bank account where he'd been saving money for Flor's adoption," Kim Perry said. "He's loved her as much as I have from the beginning."
That love has amplified their heartbreak at what has happened to Flor.
"This happened twice to our daughter," Devin Perry said. "How many more incidents are going on that are not being reported on and divulged to parents?"
Meatoga is expected in court in Farmington on May 5.
