The people running Florida charter schools just had the worst night of their careers.
Now one principal is sitting in jail for drunk driving – and the other one is in jail for drunk driving to the jail.
The excuse the second one gave cops is something you have to hear.
Two Principals, One Jeep, Zero Good Decisions
Just after 2 a.m. on July 5, Clermont police spotted a white Jeep Cherokee swerving repeatedly into oncoming lanes, driving over a curb, and veering completely into northbound traffic on Minnehaha Avenue.
Behind the wheel was Jennifer Jimenez, 41 – recently appointed principal of Pinecrest Academy Tavares.
In the passenger seat was her boss, Christina Alcalde, 45 – principal of Pinecrest Lakes Academy, the school where Jimenez had worked as vice principal before her promotion this spring.
Officers pulled them over and immediately noticed the smell of alcohol.
Jimenez was "very unsteady and choppy," according to the arrest affidavit, and "staggered and swayed as she attempted to stand still."
She declined the field sobriety test and was handcuffed on the spot.
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Alcalde was in no better shape – slurring words, unsteady on her feet, and crying.
She told officers the two had been drinking at a restaurant where the bartenders "poured heavy."
Officers deemed Alcalde too drunk to drive, arranged a rideshare to take her home, and parked the Jeep in a nearby lot.
Case closed.
Except it wasn't.
She Came Back
Around 5 a.m., the arresting officer got word the Jeep was back on the road.
The lot was empty.
Officers pulled it over about a mile away on State Road 50 and found Alcalde behind the wheel.
When asked why she was out driving, Alcalde said she was heading to an ATM to pull $2,000 and post bond for Jimenez.
"I understand," she told the officer on body camera video. "I'm really not drunk, I promise you I'm not. I'm just really worried about my friend."
The officer was not convinced.
"I just talked to you," he said. "You were really drunk when I talked to you. It's a couple hours later."
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Alcalde reportedly fell asleep multiple times on the ride to jail.
She was given a field sobriety test, and the arresting officer told his sergeant on camera she was "on the edge" with enough "clues" to arrest her.
Alcalde refused the breath test and was booked into Lake County Jail alongside Jimenez.
The Schools Have Nothing to Say
Pinecrest Lakes Academy – 1,100 publicly funded students – didn't answer multiple calls for comment.
Pinecrest Academy Tavares – 1,000 students – didn't answer either.
The Pinecrest Academy governing board, which oversees more than a dozen charter schools across Florida, didn't respond to a single request for comment.
Both women have pleaded not guilty to DUI and to refusing DUI testing.
They were released on $2,000 bond each – the same amount Alcalde was allegedly trying to pull from an ATM at 5 a.m.
Florida taxpayers are footing their salaries.
This isn't an isolated incident.
Last year, a Tampa-area high school principal was arrested for DUI and cocaine possession after getting caught driving 15 miles over the speed limit – just one month after being publicly celebrated for saving a student's life.
The pattern here isn't complicated.
The people running public schools have spent decades demanding more funding, more authority, and more public trust – and a growing number of them are proving they haven't earned it.
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Alcalde has been principal at Pinecrest Lakes since 2017.
She didn't sneak through a background check.
She built a career in a system that asks nothing of the adults and everything of the parents who trust them.
Jimenez was promoted to her own principal role this spring.
One of her first acts as the boss was to climb into an SUV drunk, swerve into oncoming traffic, and give her boss the opportunity to make the whole thing worse.
They go before a judge on August 3.
The 2,100 kids across their two schools will be watching.
Sources:
- Adam Silverstein, "2 Fla. school principals arrested for DUI hours apart after police stop – riding in the same Jeep," New York Post, July 15, 2026.
- Law&Crime Staff, "I'm Way Better: 2 School Principals Arrested for Drunk Driving the Same Car Just Hours Apart, Police Say," Law&Crime, July 15, 2026.
- Staff, "2 Lake County charter school principals accused of driving drunk hours apart," Yahoo News/Orlando Sentinel, July 15, 2026.
- Staff, "Two charter school staff members charged with DUI after drinks at Clermont restaurant," Leesburg News, July 10, 2026.
- Staff, "Lake County charter school principal arrested for DUI-related offenses," ClickOrlando, July 10, 2026.
- Staff, "High school principal arrested for DUI and cocaine possession, police say," WFTS Tampa Bay, August 4, 2025.
