Pubdate: Sat, 16 Dec 2006
Source: World, The (Coos Bay, OR)
Copyright: 2006 Southwestern Oregon Publishing Company
Contact:  http://www.theworldlink.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1229
Author: Hallie Winchell, Staff Writer

COOS BAY SCHOOLS NOT FOLLOWING PRE-EMPLOYMENT DRUG TESTING
POLICY

Safeway Stores, Bay Area Hospital and the Coos Bay Police Department 
Have One Thing in Common: All Three Screen Employees for Use of 
Illicit Drugs Before Putting Them on the Payroll.

But many South Coast schools don't.

Coos Bay School Board recently reviewed a personnel policy that 
required the district to complete a background and criminal records 
check, a medical exam and drug test on all new employees. According 
to Superintendent Dr. Karen Fischer Gray, the district has not been 
exercising the full policy for several years.

At a School Board meeting Monday, Gray told board members as far as 
she knows, while she has been with the district, no drug tests or 
medical exams have been required of potential district employees.

"This is not the practice of the school district. We do not drug test 
and we do not require a medical exam before we hire someone," Gray 
said. "I don't like having policies for things we don't do."

Gray said she had no idea medical examinations and drug screenings 
were included in the district's pre-employment policies until a staff 
member brought it to her attention. In the three years Gray has been 
at the helm of the Coos Bay district, no drug screenings were 
required of new employees, she said.

"I have hired at least 40 to 50 people in the last few years and none 
of them had to undergo drug testing," Gray said. "I didn't know this 
policy existed until last week. And I'm very uncomfortable with 
unevenly practiced policies."

Gray advocated the School Board revise the policy to limit checks to 
background checks and criminal records, but several board members disagreed.

"I feel very strongly about urinalysis and I think we should do this 
before someone is on the payroll," said board member Tom Bennett. 
"The message that is sent to the community by having a drug-testing 
policy is a strong one. It supports local efforts to do everything 
possible to eliminate substance abuse."

Board member David Ford agreed.

"I think it's a pretty common business practice and it's probably a 
safe one to do," he said. "I think it should be enforced. I don't 
think it's a bad policy so I don't see any reason to eliminate it myself."

The Oregon Department of Education mandates districts complete 
background and criminal records checks on all new employees, and bus 
drivers be tested for illicit drugs. It's up to the individual school 
districts, however, to voluntarily test all new employees.

While Gray said she isn't aware of any drug testing, several district 
employees said they were, in fact, drug tested before beginning work. 
Both Duella Scott-Hull, the district curriculum director, and Trevor 
Edd, a district technology technician, underwent drug testing, they said.

Scott-Hull was hired in 2002 by former Superintendent Jeremy Lyon, 
and said she wasn't surprised to be tested.

"I worked at the Douglas County ESD before I came here, and they 
tested me there, too. I expected it," she said. "I was the first 
district-level administrator who had been hired at Coos Bay from 
outside the area for some time. Jeremy was new and I was new, so it 
wasn't a big deal."

Common practice

Although the test itself may not be a big deal for most potential 
district employees, the practice is becoming more common in Oregon. 
According to Joe Wehrli, Oregon School Board Association's director 
of policy services, many districts have begun to use pre-employment 
drug screening.

"OSBA does have sample policies to serve that purpose. We're very 
much proponents for local control, and we know that the districts and 
the community are really the ones who need to make that decision," 
Wehrli said. "It's a frequently asked question. We give a lot of 
advice to districts considering it."

North Bend School District is one of the few South Coast districts 
that do screen employees for drug use. Superintendent Dr. BJ 
Hollensteiner said the policy was enacted in 1999, and includes 
temporary as well as full-time employees, to ensure a drug-free workplace.

"We've had people test positive before," Hollensteiner said. "We test 
everybody, I did a drug test when I came in - no one is excused."

According to Superintendent Chris Nichols, Brookings-Harbor School 
District also tests all new employees for drugs.

"I believe in the long run it works toward making our schools a safer 
place," Nichols said. "It (demonstrates) that it's important to us to 
keep our kids safe."

Siuslaw School District approved a policy change to include drug 
testing about a year ago, said Superintendent Gerald Hamilton, while 
Coos Bay's policy has been on the books since 1993.

Enforcing or revising the policy was left undecided in Coos Bay, but 
board member Andy Post said he'd already made up his mind.

"It should be enforced," Post said. "If we're going to promote a 
drug-free school, we should do drug screening on all our employees 
before we hire them. Not to say any of our teachers are doing drugs, 
but we want our kids to be safe."

The School Board plans to discuss the policy issue in further detail 
at the next meeting, Jan. 8, 2007.
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MAP posted-by: Elaine