The San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office filed two misdemeanor charges against a former school principal, who was arrested on campus in November on suspicion of driving under the influence.
According to court documents filed Feb. 5, Paso Robles High School Principal Megan Fletcher is charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and driving with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent or higher.
Charges stem from a Nov. 10 incident in which Fletcher was taken into custody while on the Paso Robles High School campus. At the time, Paso Robles Joint Unified School District officials confirmed that Fletcher was arrested that morning and placed on paid administrative leave.
According to a police report, school staff contacted law enforcement after noticing the smell of alcohol on Fletcher and inside her office.
“Over the past several days, staff had suspected Paso Robles High School Principal Megan Kelly Fletcher of consuming alcohol before arriving to work,” the report stated. “On the morning of Nov. 10, 2025, staff smelled the odor of alcohol emitting from Fletcher and observed slurred speech.”
Paso Robles police said the department’s school resource officer responded to the campus around 9 a.m. and found Fletcher in the campus office. Following a subsequent investigation, officers determined that Fletcher had driven to campus under the influence.
The police report states that a preliminary breathalyzer test taken that morning showed a breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) of 0.244 percent. A second test taken minutes later showed 0.250 percent—more than three times the standard driving limit. A third breath test conducted about five hours later showed 0.11 percent—still over the legal limit, according to the report.
Investigators stated they found no evidence that Fletcher consumed alcohol while on campus.
“Given the short time between her arrival and exiting the vehicle, combined with the fact that no alcoholic beverages were located in her vehicle or office, it is improbable that Fletcher could have consumed enough alcohol after arriving at the school to reach a BrAC of .255 percent,” the report states.
According to that report, Fletcher told officers she had consumed a bottle of wine the night before and suggested that the odor of alcohol may have been the result of her forgetting to brush her teeth.
In a statement sent to families and staff on Nov. 10, district Superintendent Jennifer Loftus said school operations would continue.
“At no point was there any danger to students or staff,” the district said in a press release at the time. “The campus remained safe, and school operations continued without interruption.”
Following Fletcher’s leave, Assistant Principal and Athletic Director Mike Susank was named acting interim principal to maintain continuity of Paso Robles High School.
On Nov. 18, Fletcher entered a resignation agreement with the district, which was approved by the board of trustees.
Her arraignment took place Feb. 11. ∆
This article appears in Health & Wellness 2026.