COURT TO WEIGH IN ON DRUG TESTING FOR TEACHERS

RALEIGH - A state appeals court will decide whether Graham County
Schools can subject teachers and other employees to random tests for
drug and alcohol use.

Three judges heard arguments Monday in a challenge by a Robbinsville
High School teacher that has held up the start of the random tests.
The district continues to test employees upon hiring or suspicion of
drug use under an old policy that seemed to at least one judge to be
enough protection.

"It appears on this record that Graham County was doing a fine job of
meeting its responsibility to ensure the safety and security of all
its students, in all three of its schools, under the old policy," N.C.
Court of Appeals Judge Linda Stephens said, "when in a matter of at
least 14 years - at least 14 years - only one employee needed to be
tested for drug or alcohol" use.

The district of 1,300 students in the far western mountains has seen
few problems with drugs, acknowledged its attorney, Dean Shatley, but
he said the school board passed the policy to protect its students.
Superior Court Judge James Downs ruled in the district's favor in
January. The appeals judges are in new legal territory. Few if any
school districts in North Carolina have moved to randomly test
teachers for drugs. A key legal question is whether the jobs of Graham
County Schools' entire 250-member staff can be considered
"safety-sensitive." Shatley noted the court has upheld random drug
testing for airport employees who drive vehicles near planes.

"It's only logical to conclude that school employees who directly
affect the health and welfare and safety of students, who supervise
children and provide for children, also should be categorized as
safety-sensitive," he said. Judge James Wynn asked if that claim could
also extend to school contractors, hospital workers, even the judges
and lawyers in a courtroom. "Where does it end?" he asked.

Rulings sometimes take months. Stephens, Wynn and Chief Judge John C.
Martin will decide the case.

Luke Largess, attorney for the N.C. Association of Educators and
Spanish teacher Susan Jones, argued that random testing would violate
state and federal constitutional protections against unreasonable
searches. Largess argued there's no evidence of a safety danger that
would outweigh those rights.

"This isn't an urban system like Wake or Mecklenburg where you have
massive turnover in the staff and principals don't know the teachers,"
he said. "These are schools where the principals have known the
teachers for years."