He Was Suspended After Being Caught Taking Students' Medicines

POPULAR RADFORD TEACHER REINSTATED

The teacher and coach had tremendous community support. After meeting a
judge's conditions, charges against him were dismissed.

RADFORD - James Anthony "Tony" DeHart, a teacher and coach whose suspension
for taking students' prescription medicines sparked angry protests last
year, was welcomed back Thursday by the Radford School Board.

In a quiet meeting very different from the fracas that surrounded DeHart's
suspension last year, the School Board voted 3-0 to reinstate DeHart at the
beginning of the 2001-02 academic year. Board members had few comments
afterward.

"We're just happy to have him back," board member Minnie Dean said.

"It was cut and dried," added board member Lincoln Lee.

DeHart, 44, was not present at the meeting, and a relative said DeHart had
not known the board planned to take up his case. DeHart could not be
contacted Thursday.

School Board members Carter Effler and Spencer Hall were not at Thursday's
meeting.

A popular figure before his troubles became public, DeHart continued to
enjoy wide support in Radford after he was caught on videotape removing
Ritalin and Adderall from a locked area at Dalton Intermediate School. The
drugs, used to treat attention deficit disorder, belonged to three
students. DeHart's attorney said DeHart began using the stimulants to
maintain a work schedule that often ran from 5:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.

A Radford High School graduate and a nose guard, linebacker and tailback on
the Bobcats football squad, DeHart had worked for Radford schools for 11
years when he was suspended. He taught physical education at Dalton and was
an assistant football coach at Radford High . He also coached the high
school's wrestling team, leading it to its only state championship.

"He's very enthusiastic, very motivating, very good at working with the
kids," Radford High wrestler Cory Engelhard said when told the board was
bringing back DeHart. "He was a great help to the team and to the community."

A senior who was second in the Group A state wrestling finals this year,
Engelhard was among dozens of students who turned out last May to plead
with the School Board not to suspend DeHart. Prominent community members
offered testimonials to DeHart's dedication, and people wept and shouted
when the board voted to bar DeHart from school property for a year and to
suspend him without pay.

"I never heard anybody say anything bad about Tony as a person," School
Board member Guy Wohlford said Tuesday.

Last year, board members agreed to review DeHart's case after the court
system finished with him. On May 11, 2000, DeHart pleaded no contest to
felony possession of a controlled substance and two misdemeanor counts of
petty larceny. Radford Circuit Judge Duane Mink took the charges under
advisement and told DeHart to complete 250 hours of community service,
enter a drug-education program and pay restitution to the three students,
among other conditions.

Earlier this month, told that DeHart had completed his service and met all
conditions, the judge dismissed all charges.

Contacted by telephone after Tuesday's meeting, veteran Radford High
football coach Norman Lineburg said he was overjoyed that DeHart was returning.

"There needs to be a second chance," Lineburg said.