RAGLIN SAYS PRINCIPAL GOT OFF EASY

Kanawha County school board member Bill Raglin said he believes
Principal David Anderson escaped conviction on a cocaine charge only
because he is white.

"I shudder to think what would have happened if this had been a young,
black male who had been found with cocaine in his pockets by a police
officer at 3:30 a.m.," Raglin said Tuesday after the board voted 3 to
2 to reinstate Anderson to his job at Pratt Elementary School.

"He probably would've been eating lunches in the state penitentiary
right now," Raglin said.

Raglin and Pete Thaw voted against giving Anderson his job
back.

Anderson has received preferential treatment from both the school
system and the judicial system, Raglin said.

"I don't feel good about it," said Raglin, who is black. "I'm very
disappointed with the performance of our judicial system."

Anderson was charged with cocaine possession in October and was
suspended from his job. A Kanawha County Magistrate Court jury
acquitted him last week.

At Tuesday's meeting, board members Becky Jordon, Barbara Welch and
Jim Crawford voted to reinstate Anderson and to provide him with back
pay plus interest for salary lost since Nov. 8.

Raglin said he has requested the tapes of last week's trial for
review. He said he is not happy with the prosecution's
performance.

"I want to hear what the witnesses said," he said. "I understand the
prosecution didn't call anyone besides the arresting officer. How can
that be? It just goes to show you that you can't count on the
prosecuting attorney's office in these situations."

Anderson was charged Oct. 14 after Charleston Police Detective J.F.
Taylor said he found 0.2 grams of cocaine in the principal's back left
pocket.

Anderson admitted that the cocaine was there, but he testified that he
did not knowingly possess it. A person he was taking home from a bar
had planted the drug on him, Anderson said.

Anderson's lawyers argued that only 0.038 grams of cocaine was found
in his pocket, which is not enough to sell or get high on, they said.
They claimed the amount police said they found -- 0.2 grams -- was the
weight of the cocaine and the plastic bag it was in.

Anderson was tested for drugs two or three days after his arrest, and
no drugs were found in his system, according to paperwork submitted by
defense attorney Bill Forbes.

Raglin said it was Anderson's testimony, including information about
him being out at a bar and his activities the night of his arrest,
that directly affected his decision not to reinstate the principal.

"I voted against him because I feel the circumstances surrounding his
arrest and the jury's decision to acquit him gave me enough concern
that I didn't believe he should be a principal of one of our
elementary schools," he said.

Raglin said Anderson sets a bad example for his young
students.

"How are we going to tell a kid in the fifth grade, who's 11 or 12
years old, that you have to be careful who you hang out with and where
you go when his or her principal ends up with cocaine in his pocket in
the wee hours of the morning?" he said.

Jordon said she based her decision to reinstate the elementary
principal on last week's court ruling.

"I'm never going to say never about anyone," she said. "But I feel I
have to support what the court of law has decided. And I'm not
doubting him, but that's where my vote came from."

Jordon, who has children in the Kanawha school system, said she would
feel comfortable having Anderson as a principal at her children's school.

"It wouldn't be a problem for me," she said. "I've heard he's such a
good principal."

Raglin said the overwhelming support for Anderson from teachers at the
school and community members was disconcerting.

"I'm sort of amazed that the faculty rushed forward with a complete
endorsement of him," he said. "That causes me some concern. I feel
like they're more concerned with their allegiance to a person than a
principal."

Welch disagreed.

"All I know is that I have visited the school long before this
happened and you could tell the children there were very comfortable
and the teachers were happy," she said.

Welch said she is confident in her decision to reinstate
Anderson.

"You can't ever be 100 percent sure on anything, but when you have
legal advice, you have to depend on that," she said. "I'm going to do
what I feel is within the law. The law is the law."

Anderson is expected to return to work at Pratt within the next few
days, school officials said.

His arrest was the impetus for a decision by the school board to
expand its current drug-testing policy. Under a proposed policy
discussed last week, all employees would be subject to random testing.