The headmaster of The Branson School in Ross was arrested on Friday in Sacramento County after allegedly being found with drugs and an unconscious woman in his hotel room.
Thomas Woodrow “Woody” Price, 54, of Ross, was booked on Oct. 3 under drug-related charges. Police found cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, and prescription drugs in a hotel room in Price’s name at the Hyatt Place in Rancho Cordova in amounts greater than can be considered for personal use, according to Sacramento’s sheriff Sgt. Jason Ramos.
Twenty-one-year-old Brittney Hall of Elk Grove was also arrested on drug charges after she was allegedly found passed out in a bed in the hotel room when officers arrived.
Officers received a call on Friday afternoon from a man who identified Hall as his girlfriend, according to Ramos.
“He basically told us that [Hall] was in the company of an older guy and he was concerned that this guy was either giving her drugs or doing drugs with her and he didn’t think it was a good situation for her to be in,” Ramos said, according to CBS.
Price took about a minute to open the door for officers, according to the Marin Independent Journal. Ramos said that Hall did not respond to officers’ shouts and had to be physically awakened.
Price resigned from his position at Branson on Monday, according to an email released to Branson parents and published on their website by David Golden, Branson’s Board Chair. Price had been appointed headmaster in 2006.
After posting his $75,000 bail, he was released pending review by the district attorney’s office. The married father of one is scheduled to make his first court appearance on Nov. 24. Hall remains in custody, according to Ramos.
Senior Jake Conway, who spent his first three years of high school at Branson, said that Price was a well-respected member of the Branson community. Conway was surprised by the news of Price’s arrest.
“I knew Woody pretty well. I’d spoken to him many times,” Conway said. “To me, he didn’t come across as the kind of person who would be responsible for the allegations made against him. If you ever talk to him, he’s a really stand-up guy. Hearing that he got arrested for such charges is pretty shocking. For him to do all that, something must have been going on behind the scenes.”
He added that Price had told the student body on multiple occasions that he had been recovering from cancer.
“Once in a while, he would show us his progress in getting his hair back,” said a current Branson student who wished to remain anonymous.
The student said that she learned about the arrest from the Internet. She stated that while she was “shocked and disturbed” by the news, she hoped it would not have a large impact on the Branson community.
“It’s mostly just about him and I think that people should try to keep that in perspective,” the student said. “The school hasn’t changed.”
Branson is an independent, non-denominational, co-educational school with 320 students in grades 9 through 12. Annual tuition is $39,475.
