JOB SEEKERS WOULD PAY FOR TEST

Mobile County school board members are considering a plan to expand
drug and alcohol testing of the work force in Alabama's largest school
system, they said Wednesday.

Board members contended that the testing will make students safer and
workers more productive. A public hearing set for 4 p.m. Feb. 16 will
invite local opinions about the policy for the 7,000-employee system.

If approved, prospective workers would be tested for drugs and alcohol
prior to employment. Workers already on the job would be subject to
testing when there is "reasonable suspicion," school board members
said.

Now, only employees who are required to have commercial driver's
licenses - bus drivers, some truck drivers and those who transport
hazardous materials - must take pre-employment and random drug tests,
according to Susan Brown, a nurse who oversees the employee health
program for the system. The new policy would also include random and
post-accident testing of all employees who drive system vehicles, not
just those with commercial licenses.

The proposal, submitted by Paul Tate, assistant superintendent for
human resources, says that more than 25 other Alabama school systems
require tests of a broader range of drivers. Those include Birmingham
and two adjacent systems, Jefferson and Shelby counties.

"We didn't have an outbreak" of drug use, superintendent Harold Dodge
said Wednesday. "I was just really looking for better ways to protect
our teachers and our students."

Representatives of the teacher union, which represents more than 5,000
members, said that they saw no problems with the proposal. The system
enrolls 65,000 students in nearly 100 schools.

"Any person who works around children does not need to be under the
influence of drugs in any shape, form or fashion," said school board
president Michael Watson.

Those who are offered jobs within the system would have to pay about
$25 for the testing, school officials said. Prospective employees
already pay about $50 for fingerprinting and background checks.

Violators could be refused employment, suspended, dismissed or
referred for rehabilitation, according to the proposal. The drug
testing would screen for substances such as amphetamines, marijuana,
cocaine, opiates and PCP (phencyclidine).

The Feb. 16 hearing, which is required by law whenever the school
board considers changing policy, will be on the second floor of the
system's administrative offices in downtown Mobile.