Pubdate: Thu, 11 Mar 2004
Source: Parkersburg Sentinel, The (WV)
Copyright: 2004, The Parkersburg Sentinel
Contact:  http://www.newsandsentinel.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1647
Author: Michael Erb
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

SCHOOL BOARD ADOPTS DRUG POLICY

PARKERSBURG - After months of debate, the Wood County Board of Education 
quietly passed a revised version of the district's employee drug policy 
Tuesday evening.

The board voted 4-0 in favor of accepting the fifth revision of Wood County 
Schools' Drug-Free Workplace Policy. Board member Harley Bailey was absent 
due to illness. No discussion was held on the revised policy Tuesday night. 
Board members have debated the wording of the policy and how strict the 
penalties should be for an employee bringing drugs onto school grounds.

The policy only recently came under scrutiny after a Parkersburg High 
School teacher was cited for misdemeanor drug possession at the school in 
November.

John Mark Miller, a social studies teacher at the school, pleaded guilty 
Tuesday in Wood County Magistrate court to possession of less than 15 grams 
of marijuana. The drugs were discovered Nov. 20 in Miller's vehicle during 
a routine drug sweep at the school.

On Tuesday, Miller received the mandatory sentence of six months of 
unsupervised probation and was assessed $120 in court costs.

Magistrate Brenda Marshall said Tuesday if Miller finishes the probation 
period and an additional six months without incident, he can have the 
charge expunged from his record.

On Dec. 10 the school board gave Miller a 15-day suspension without pay and 
a formal reprimand, the highest penalties allowed under the old policy.

Several board members argued that the penalties were too lenient and that 
they felt hampered by the policy in their attempts to address Miller's actions.

The revised policy allows an employee to be suspended for upwards of 90 
days on first offense and allows for termination on a second offense. No 
minimum suspension is set in the policy.

Jim Fox, who first advocated strengthening the policy, said Wednesday he 
was pleased with the final result.

"I think it (the revised policy) is an improvement over what we first had," 
he said. "It gives us greater latitude in addressing the severity of an 
offense. The old policy was too restrictive. This one gives us more options."

The December action was the first time in 12 years that the policy had come 
into use. Since then it has undergone five board revisions.

Fox's original proposed revisions came under fire last month by local and 
state teachers' unions who said the board was locking itself into handing 
down harsh penalties on employees without regard to mitigating 
circumstances. Fox had originally proposed a minimum 90-day unpaid 
suspension on first offense with an option for the board to fire an 
employee without a recommendation from the superintendent.

State and local representatives of the West Virginia Federation of Teachers 
protested the changes, saying the penalties were too harsh and unyielding 
and that the board was sending a negative message to its employees.

Craig Clinton, a teacher at Parkersburg High School and president of the 
local federation, said several teachers raised concerns that an employee 
could be targeted by a student or other party by having drugs or alcohol 
planted on them or among their possessions at school. Under some of the 
early policy revisions, the board would be unable to consider any 
mitigating circumstances surrounding an incident and would be forced to 
hand down the maximum penalty.

Other board members echoed those concerns at several board meetings, 
leading to further revisions in the policy.

"We had no problem with them changing some of the parameters of the 
policy," Clinton said. "We just wanted a seat at the table."

Fox, however, said the union's presentation had no affect on his decisions 
regarding the policy.

"If anything, I think it (the federation's presentation) helped 
substantiate the need for a stronger policy," he said.

Fox said he did meet with members of the Wood County Education Association 
who voiced concerns over the policy as well.

Clinton said the union's argument against the policy revisions had nothing 
to do with Miller's case, only the board's reaction to its first use of the 
drug-free workplace policy.

"If the first time you have to use a policy you scramble to change it, why 
would you have that policy in the first place?" he said. "We were 
responding to the board's sudden reaction."

Miller filed a formal grievance against the school board with the local 
West Virginia Education and State Employees Grievance Board. A hearing was 
held Feb. 2 in Charleston, but the school district has not yet heard the 
results of that hearing, said Superintendent Bill Niday.

"That we have not heard anything yet ... that is not unusual," he said.

The district has not released any details of the hearing because it 
surrounds a personnel issue.

Lawyer Joseph Albright, who represents Miller, did not return phone calls 
Wednesday.
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager