Dedham Middle School Principal Charged with OUI, Placed on Leave

Image Credit: Weston Police Department

DEDHAM, MA - A middle school principal has been placed on leave because of a drunk driving charge after being arrested over the weekend.

Dedham Middle School principal Debra Gately was arrested early Sunday morning by police in Weston and charged with operating under the influence. She was arraigned Monday and faces a pre-trial hearing on April 11, according to Weston Police Department.

Dedham Patch has learned that Gately has not been at school this week. Superintendent Michael Welch confirmed that the principal has been placed on leave.

"Based on the seriousness of the charges, I determined the best course of action was to immediately place Ms. Gately on leave so she has the time to focus on her situation and we can conduct a thorough investigation while minimizing the disruption this situation is causing in our community," Welch said.

At about 12:50 a.m. Sunday morning, a caller told police that he was following a car that was driving all over the road and nearly crashed four times. According to a police report, the caller followed the car into a parking lot on River Road where the driver, identified as Gately, opened the door and hunched over as if she was going to vomit. The caller then took the keys from Gately.

The report noted that Gately "had an extremely strong odor of an alcoholic beverage on her breath and was very hard to understand as her speech was significantly slurred."

Gately allegedly told police that she had three vodka drinks and was driving home to Waltham. When she was asked where she was coming from, the officer could not make out her answer, despite repeating it several times.

Gately was taken into custody after failing multiple field sobriety tests. During the booking process, she allegedly registered a blood alcohol content level of 0.19., well over the legal limit of 0.08.

A Waltham native, Gately was named the principal of Dedham Middle School in 2009. In 2015, she received the Principal of the Year award from the Massachusetts Secondary School Administrators Association.

During Gately's absence, Assistant Principal Margo Fraczek will serve as acting principal, and Assistant Superintendent Dr. Cynthia Kelly, who is the former Middle School Principal, will provide additional support.

Liz Taurasi, Alex Newman, and Tony Schinella contributed to this report.