SCHOOL DRUG TESTS INCLUDE TOP OFFICES

Kanawha County Proposes Policy

A proposed drug testing policy for Kanawha County school employees
will include board members and central office workers if it's
approved, board members affirmed Thursday.

Meanwhile, the former principal whose arrest kick-started discussions
about drug testing was found not guilty on misdemeanor drug
possession charges in Kanawha County Magistrate Court on Thursday.

The Kanawha school board -- and the county's teachers and principals
unions -- had been uncertain about administrators' role in the random
drug-testing scenario because the policy outlined Thursday did not
specifically mention top employees or elected officials.

It did specify 36 particular "safety-sensitive" jobs, but also named
anyone who drives a county vehicle or their own car more than 10
miles each week.

"It's in there if you read the fine print. We all drive for the job,"
said Superintendent Ron Duerring. "We should have put [everybody] in it."

He said those defined were part of other policies pulled from across
the nation.

Board members, excluding Pete Thaw, said they never planned not to
include high-level employees. Thaw had voiced concerns over the
policy as worded.

The policy, which would subject employees to random testing even
without reasonable suspicion of drug use, was kick-started in October
after Pratt Elementary Principal David Anderson was charged with
possession of cocaine.

In Kanawha County Magistrate Court on Thursday, a jury found Anderson
not guilty of misdemeanor possession charges. His lawyer, Bill
Forbes, said he hoped Anderson would be reinstated in an
administrative role in the school system.

School board member Barbara Welch said Thursday evening that Duerring
confirmed Anderson's acquittal after the meeting. She said he did not
give any indication whether Anderson would be reinstated.

Welch and board member Becky Jordon said they didn't know about the
ruling during Thursday's board meeting. Even so, the two wavered at
the meeting on the idea of drug testing, worried about skyrocketing legal fees.

"Maybe I overreacted," said Jordon. "I feel that we could be opening
a can of worms." She said the test might be best used only for
pre-employment purposes.

Welch contends the drug policy and the Anderson ruling are two separate issues.

Thaw and Bill Raglin said during the meeting the policy must be
enacted, but that they'd wait for school board President Jim Crawford
to weigh in after a two-month comment period.

Crawford said after the meeting he's not dismissing the idea.

Teachers say they wish he would and that it's contributing to a
downgrade in morale.

They worry random testing could create false positives, ruin
teachers' reputations and open some of their medical records to
public scrutiny if they have to defend a false positive.

"And, people might look at you in a different light after that," said
Grandview Elementary teacher Debbie Kitchen. "It's none of their business."

They point to a similar situation in a neighboring county when a
woman tested positive because of a prescription drug, was suspended
and then reinstated after she declared the legal drug.

The policy, with revisions to include central office workers, will be
on comment for two months and the board will review it again.

"Oh, we won't abandon it, I can guarantee that," Thaw said after the meeting.

In other action Thursday, the board:

Decided to move its monthly curriculum meetings to 4 p.m. to
accommodate teachers' schedules. The next meeting is set for March 5.

Voted 3-2 to grandfather in current coaches who also serve as
athletic directors. A new job description approved at an early
meeting says that athletic directors cannot be head coaches. Now,
when the current director who doubles as a coach steps down, no coach
can replace him or her. Raglin said the decision allows employees to
"double dip" because they would receive both stipends.