A Franklin City Schools teacher who was indicted for aggravated possession of drugs is back at work in the district’s central office, according to the district’s superintendent.

Patrice Clark-Elliott entered a guilty plea in Warren County Common Pleas Court on Dec. 4 to a single count of aggravated possession of drugs, a fourth-degree felony. However on the same day, she filed a motion for intervention in lieu of conviction.

Judge James Flannery granted Clark-Elliott’s motion, which stayed the criminal proceedings until she completes the intervention program. If the intervention and other probation terms are successfully completed, the court could dismiss the case without a criminal conviction and seal the court record.

In the probation agreement Clark-Elliott signed, there were no prohibitions for her working in the school district. But her lawyer, David Chicarelli of Franklin, said she was instructed to refrain from teaching until she completed her intervention.

Superintendent Arnol Elam said Clark-Elliott was slated to be a language arts teacher at Franklin Junior High School this year and had previously been a third-grade teacher at Anthony Wayne Elementary School. After her Aug. 5 arrest, she was placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of her criminal case.

As required by state law, Elam said the district sent a referral in early December to the Ohio Department of Education’s Professional Conduct Division to investigate if Clark-Elliott’s teaching license should be pulled.

John D. Charlton, ODE’s spokesman, said that Clark-Elliott’s five-year professional elementary teaching license was still valid and does not expire until June 30, 2015. However, Charlton could not confirm or deny if she was under investigation or if the district sent a referral.

Elam said Clark-Elliott is not permitted to be in the classroom or have direct contact with students until ODE decides if she keeps her license or not. She was hired as a teacher in 2001 and her annual salary was $61,522, according to district Treasurer Jana Bellamy.

“We have her working in the board office doing clerical work with the district’s curriculum director,” Elam said. “We felt it was better to do that than (her) being at home on paid administrative leave.”

Elam said Clark-Elliott has been working at the central office since her December court proceeding ended. He said he has been consulting with the district’s lawyer, Bill Deters, and the Franklin Board of Education on the matter. So far, Elam said he has not received any calls from parents or other residents about the arrangement.

“It’s up to ODE if they are going to take her license away,” Elam said. “But if she’s not convicted, she has the same rights as any other employee.”

“She has a right to go back to the classroom if she’s not convicted,” he said. “That’s the way I see it.”