LAWRENCE SCHOOL BOARD CONSIDERS DRUG TESTING STUDENTS, TEACHERS

Policy To Be Drafted In Coming Months

LOUISA - Lawrence County could be the first school district in the state to
require both teachers and students to submit to drug testing.

Admitting they have a tough battle ahead of them, the Lawrence County
Board of Education and its attorney, Nelson Sparks, are pushing forward
with plans to mandate testing for teachers and students suspected of drug
use and/or caught with drugs or under the influence of them.

"It is something that you have to be careful with," Sparks said at the
board's meeting Monday night. "There are a lot of things that you need to
look at and take into consideration when you begin mandating drug testing.

"It is an area that few courts in the area have ruled on."

A policy will be drafted in a few months, Sparks said. There is no timeline
for its implementation.

Board members vow they will fight until there is a policy on the books.

Rodney Hamilton, school board member, said he supports drug testing of the
district's 210 teachers because he thinks it's a way to protect the students.

"How can we preach 'Say no to drugs' when we have teachers that are doing
it?" Hamilton said.

Sparks said student drug-testing, like what was implemented last year in
Russell, has been proven to be Constitutionally sound.

Russell randomly tests all athletes and students who drive to school.

In 1998, the Boyd County School District adopted a policy for testing
athletes.

Testing teachers is more difficult to implement, Sparks said, because they
have more rights to privacy than their students. Students give up some
rights, Sparks said, because they are in the custody of the state during
the school day.

They give up more rights when they choose to participate in athletics after
school.

"If you have a random-testing policy for a group and there is a need for
it, testing students has been able to stand up in court," the attorney said.

To test teachers, there has to be observed illegal activity or physical
impairment, reasonable suspicion or a violation of the law, Sparks said.
Rumors and second-hand information cannot be grounds to test a teacher, he
said.

"You have to be able to lay out the reasons that you are testing them,"
Sparks explained. "Under the Fourth Amendment, people are protected against
any unreasonable searches, which drug testing is most often considered a
search."

Lisa Gross, spokeswoman for the Kentucky Department of Education, said no
district in the state currently tests teachers. Only a handful test
students, she said.

Gross said the issue of testing teachers has cropped up before, but no
school board has implemented a policy.

Hamilton said testing teachers should be commonplace in schools.

"How can they pass laws like this in the work place? I think it should be
common sense that we don't want our teachers to use drugs," Hamilton said.
"What's more important than our kids and their safety?"

Schools, which are an arm of the government, are bound by the Constitution,
Sparks said, whereas private businesses are not.

Sparks said the board needs to weigh privacy versus the need to maintain a
drug-free school system.

"I think we need to go forward with this at all costs," said Board
chairwoman Barbara Robinson. "It is something that is needed and I think
will help to get drugs out of our schools."

Superintendent Eddie Michael cautioned the board to "proceed slowly" and
investigate all options carefully before adopting a policy.

"We need to look at a lot of things before we do this," Michael said to the
board members Monday. "It's up to you all, if you want to pursue this, you
need to know that this will probably be a long process."

Michael said he would be supportive of the board's decision, but he expects
criticism from civil liberties' groups.