COURT RULING MAY DECIDE KANAWHA'S DRUG TESTING

Schools' Policy, Similar To County's, Blocked By Judge

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Officials at the Kanawha County courthouse may
suspend random drug testing pending the outcome of a federal court
challenge.

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin issued a temporary
injunction to stop the Kanawha County school board from conducting
random drug tests of teachers and other school employees.

Lawyers for the state's two teachers unions and representatives of
the American Civil Liberties Union are challenging the drug testing
policy, saying it violates the Fourth Amendment's prohibition against
unreasonable searches and seizures.

The Kanawha County Commission and other elected county officials
adopted a similar drug testing policy, requiring random tests for
county employees in safety sensitive positions.

The policy covers all employees of the Metro 911 center, sheriff's
deputies, employees who drive or operate dangerous equipment and even
custodians in the county courthouse. County officials fear that the
court challenge to the school board's drug policy will affect the
county's policy as well.

On Monday, Goodwin ruled that school officials didn't present a
compelling argument for why teachers should be drug tested. The judge
said there was no evidence of a "pervasive" drug problem that would
justify the tests.

The central question in the drug testing challenge is whether
teachers - or other government employees - are in "safety sensitive"
positions.

Jared Tully, lawyer for the Metro 911 governing board, sent an e-mail
to Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper on Monday saying
that emergency dispatchers were clearly in safety sensitive
positions. But he also said the idea that drug use had to be
pervasive to justify drug testing was "troubling."

In light of Goodwin's ruling, Tully advised Carper that county
officials should probably take another look at the county's drug
testing policy.

Attorney Carolyn Wade said county officials might want to temporarily
suspend random drug testing of employees until the school board court
challenge is resolved. Wade helped draft both the school board's drug
testing policy and the county's policy, and is representing school
officials in front of Goodwin.

Courthouse officials will talk about whether to suspend drug testing
at a regular meeting of the Kanawha County Commission on Jan. 8.