TIPTON COUNTY, Tenn. — Parents said they are shocked that a popular former science teacher was caught with drugs.
The superintendent of Tipton County Schools, Buddy Bibb, said former Covington High School teacher Kennneth Lomax resigned Monday.
He taught in the district for 20 years and was also a basketball coach at Brighton High School and Crestview Middle School. Parents and a worker in the district said he was well liked by his students.
Police released a report saying Lomax was seen driving from the school to Shelton Street, where he bought drugs.
Pamela Tipton said her son, who is a freshman at Covington High, told her about the incident involving Lomax, who was arrested last week.
“It’s just amazing, everything happening all over the world so for a teacher to…really you can’t be shocked, everybody doing everything these days, but you can be shocked because a teacher is not supposed to do that,” Tipton said.
Undercover officers were watching Lomax after receiving complaints about him. Officers said they pulled him over for running a stop sign, and they searched his car after they said Lomax lied to them.
That’s when officers said they found a medicine bottle containing liquid codeine; they later also found cocaine in his shoe at the jail.
Parents said Lomax is sending the wrong message to their children.
“If the kids was to get caught doing the same thing he doing, it would be a whole thing with them, so yeah, I think he should be held accountable for what he did,” Tipton explained.
Bibb told WREG this situation is very disappointing. He went on to say it’s just one of those incidents you wouldn’t expect.
Carolyn Nelson, a cafeteria worker for the district, said students and parents looked up to Lomax.
“Because he was a very good man,” she said.
Parents said they’re relieved Lomax is no longer a teacher with the district.
Bibb said he hopes this is an isolated incident. He said a substitute teacher will take over Lomax’s classes until a teacher is hired.