KNOTT SCHOOLS STOP TEACHER DRUG TESTS

HINDMAN (AP) -- Officials in Knott County have agreed to briefly stop
mandatory drug testing of teachers after a teacher filed a federal lawsuit
challenging the practice.

Knott School Superintendent Harold Combs said the local board of education
instituted mandatory and random drug testing in January for employees in
"safety-sensitive" positions, such as teachers.

Carol Crager, an elementary school teacher, filed a lawsuit March 25 in
U.S. District Court at Pikeville, claiming the policy violated her
constitutional rights.

"This is a drastic increase in normal testing," said Crager's attorney, J.
Follace Fields II of Lexington. "We feel it is overly broad and overly
invasive."

Fewer than a half-dozen districts in the state share Knott's policy of
mandatory and random testing of teachers, and the issue has never been
fully tested in federal court in Kentucky, said Brad Hughes, spokesman for
the Kentucky School Boards Association.

Hughes said all school bus drivers in the state are subject to drug
testing, but only five other districts in Kentucky, including Jackson,
Harlan, Clay, Whitley and Knox counties, require drug tests for other
employees, including teachers.

The Russell Independent district offers voluntary employee testing, he said.

In Knott County, principals, assistant principals, teacher's aides,
substitute teachers, school secretaries and students also are subject to
drug testing.

Fields said the Knott policy puts no parameters on the drug testing process
and violates the American Disabilities Act, which limits an employer's
right to medical information. Fields is also concerned about a phrase in
Knott's policy that says violations will be reported to "appropriate legal
officials."

Combs, the superintendent, said law enforcement officials won't routinely
be contacted about violations.

Under a temporary restraining order, the district will stop testing
teachers until a hearing in Lexington on Tuesday.