SCHOOL DISTRICT REQUIRING DRUG TEST

Screening Will Apply To Prospective Employees In Northampton Area

Northampton Area has become one of the first school districts in the
Lehigh Valley to require prospective employees to get tested for drugs.

Northampton is one of several local districts that discussed
tightening drug policies in the wake of a Bethlehem principal's
February arrest for drug dealing. Last week, Northampton school
officials agreed their first step will be to require drug tests,
starting next week, of everyone who receives a job offer to be a
teacher, administrator or other employee.

"We have the right to request a pre-employment drug test," said
Assistant Superintendent Bill Falstich. "We want to make sure that
we maintain a safe and drug-free workplace, not only for our
students but for our employees as well."

The Pennsylvania School Boards Association estimates that at least
75 of the state's 501 school districts already have policies on
pre-employment drug testing. It's not clear if any of those 75 are
in the Valley, because no state group or agency tracks districts'
drug testing policies.

Falstich said he wasn't aware of any other local districts that
require pre-employment drug tests.

The Northampton Area School Board, which voted 7-0 on Oct. 1 to
approve the screenings of prospective employees, also is still
discussing requiring drug tests for current employees, said Robert
Koch, the board's president.

"Given the environment today, we should have a policy for drug
testing," Koch said. "Recent local history says that there could be problems."

John Acerra, then principal of Bethlehem's Nitschmann Middle School,
was arrested in his school office on Feb. 27. He pleaded guilty in
August to possessing and delivering methamphetamines.

Teachers unions in the state have fought proposals to test current
school employees for drugs, arguing the screenings would be
unconstitutional and would violate collective bargaining agreements.

However, state and local union officials said they have no objection
to policies like the new one in Northampton, because potential new
hires aren't represented by a union.

"The district has a right to develop any hiring policies that it
feels are appropriate," said John Clark, a spokesman for the
Pennsylvania State Education Association.

Thomas Laputka, president of the Northampton Area Educators'
Association, agreed and compared the new drug screening to other
pre-employment conditions like "criminal background checks,
tuberculosis testing [and] possessing proper teaching credentials."

Under state law, prospective school employees must go through police
background checks and an FBI fingerprint check, Falstich said.

Pennsylvania has no requirements about pre-employment drug
screenings for school workers, but in general the state Department
of Education supports "anything school districts can do to make
schools safer for students," said department spokesman Michael Race.

Northampton's new policies state that the district will pay for the
drug tests and will share the results with the job applicant. If an
applicant believes the test results are incorrect, he or she may
appeal by having the sample retested once.

Applicants who test positive for illegal drugs or refuse the test
will lose their job offers, the policy states.