SUSPENDED PRINCIPAL SEEKS DRUG RECORDS

This much is clear: Suspended Vice Principal Joseph Graceffo did not order
11th-grader Nicholas Lucatorto to be tested for drugs even though school
policy dictated that was the proper course of action after teachers
suspected the teen of smoking marijuana.

But whether Graceffo acted differently from other school administrators in
exercising discretion appears to be an issue at the heart of a state
administrative court case in which Graceffo faces dismissal. A lawyer for
the Wayne Hills High School vice principal filed a lawsuit Monday demanding
that the district release detailed drug testing records over the last four
years that could help reveal the true pattern of compliance.

The lawsuit, filed in state Superior Court in Paterson, asks for nurses'
logs that show how many students were referred to them for examination on
suspicion of using drugs and how many were actually ordered to undergo
urinalysis. In addition, it seeks the number of referrals made to the "core
team" -- a group of teachers who monitor students believed to be at risk
for drug use.

Graceffo's lawyer, Robert Schwartz, is seeking to show conflicts in the
"zero tolerance" policy on drug testing. It's that policy that they are
citing in saying Graceffo should be fired for not compelling Lucatorto to
undergo testing.

Graceffo was suspended and charged with violating school policy after
Lucatorto overdosed on heroin and died at an overnight house party Feb. 6,
two weeks after Graceffo's decision.

Under local and state policy, a school administrator must require testing
of any student if a teacher suspects that student of taking drugs or
notices behavioral changes. In Wayne's public schools, if a student is
suspected of drug use, the parents are given the option of having the
family physician or school staff administer a urinalysis. If the test is
positive, the student is suspended from school and must complete treatment
before being allowed to return.

The lawsuit comes just three days before a hearing resumes in state
administrative court on the district's effort to dismiss Graceffo.

Earlier this month, Wayne Hills Principal Gene Sudol testified that until a
teacher told Graceffo that she suspected Lucatorto of smoking marijuana in
late January, only one student had been tested for drugs in the previous
five months.

But after the 17-year-old died, the school tested 55 students during the
rest of the school year. At the same time, 31 students were tested at Wayne
Valley High School. District officials attribute the discrepancy to a
heightened awareness among Wayne Hills teachers following the death of
Lucatorto.

Graceffo, who Schwartz argues is a scapegoat, faces four administrative
charges that he violated board policy by not automatically ordering the
drug test for Lucatorto.

The hearing, before Administrative Law Judge Mumtaz Bari-Brown in Newark,
is scheduled to resume Thursday.

Schwartz had requested the nurses' records before the hearings began
earlier this month. Board of Education attorney Steven Fogarty has argued
that because the logs have students' names on them, they are confidential
and therefore he is not required to give them to Schwartz. But in the
lawsuit, Schwartz states that he has no objection if the district removes
the students' names or their numerical identification from the reports.

Both Fogarty and Schwartz were unavailable for comment Monday.

According to testimony earlier this month, Susan Ammerman, a physical
education teacher, informed both a school nurse and Graceffo that she had
smelled marijuana smoke on Lucatorto on Jan. 21. But Schwartz has argued
that Graceffo and the nurse did not smell marijuana on the teen and that
Ammerman did not specifically ask for Lucatorto to be tested.

Instead, Graceffo alerted Lucatorto's mother about the incident and said
the boy would be tested if another report came in indicating marijuana use.

The next morning, Robert Flower, head of the physical education Department,
also reported to Graceffo that he smelled marijuana on Lucatorto that day.
But Schwartz has argued that Graceffo thought Flower was referring to the
incident with Ammerman and assured Flower the matter had already been
"taken care of."