At least she’s no Sue Sylvester

No one’s cheering for this coach. Brooklyn Connecticut police broke up a party March 4th at the home of Karen Rubino, 60, a popular cheerleader coach and special education teacher at Killingly High School. Among the guests were eight minors who had allegedly been drinking. Rubino pleaded not guilty Wednesday when she was arraigned on eight counts of second degree reckless endangerment and allowing minors to possess alcohol.

The details are sketchy; nothing so far about the number of guests, the occasion, the minors’ ages and or how they knew Rubino. The school’s official position is that Rubino’s on paid leave. Rubino’s upbeat end-of-summer message on her Killingly High School teacher page predicted this year’s cheer-leading squad to be “the best ever”. They made it to the state championships on March 12th but without their coach.

It should be an interesting trial. Judge Patricia Swords, who entered the plea on Rubino’s behalf, is a controversial and polarizing figure. She squeaked through the renomination process due to repeated complaints about her bias in favor of prosecutors.

The case continues April 20. We’ll be following this one.

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To learn more:

Killingly cheer coach arraigned in underage drinking case. – Norwich Bulletin – March 24, 2011 – Byline: Alison Shea