Pubdate: Wed, 03 Jan 2007
Source: Mobile Register (AL)
Copyright: 2007 Mobile Register
Contact:  http://www.al.com/mobileregister/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/269
Author: Josh Bean, Staff Reporter
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Test)

STATE'S TEACHERS EXEMPT FROM DRUG TESTS

BAY MINETTE -- While thousands of Alabama public school  students are
tested for everything from alcohol to  cocaine, there is no such
testing program for teachers.

Only bus drivers in Baldwin and Mobile counties, along  with the 129
public school systems in Alabama, are  required to submit to random
drug tests, according to  local and state school officials.

Schools may require prospective employees to be  drug-tested during
the hiring process, but no school  system has this requirement of new
teachers, said  Brooke Thorington, a state education department
spokeswoman.

Instead, the state Department of Education conducts  criminal
background checks on "any employee that has  unsupervised access to
students," including teachers,  Thorington said. The background check
is intended to  reveal any drug-related offense.

While teachers are not required to submit to drug  testing, the
Baldwin County school system launched its  student drug testing
program in February 2006 at Gulf  Shores Middle and High schools. The
testing will expand  to the county's other six high schools when
classes  resume Monday, and then to all middle schools in  January
2008.

In Baldwin County, some teachers have suggested that  the school
system launch a voluntary drug testing  program, schools spokesman
Terry Wilhite said. Such a  plan may not be legal, he added.

Schools Superintendent Faron Hollinger "is very much in  favor of drug
testing for teachers because he has had  an overwhelming response from
faculty members who say  that they believe in drug-free campuses and
would like  to be part of that message," Wilhite said. "There is
nothing to fear if there is nothing to hide."

The Mobile County school board does not have a  countywide drug
testing policy for students or  teachers, said spokeswoman Nancy
Pierce. She said the  board discussed student testing several years
ago, but  a board member objected to it unless teachers were  tested,
and since teachers cannot be tested, the issue  died, she said.

The state school board provides no funding for student  drug testing,
leaving those decisions in the hands of  local authorities, Thorington
said.

The Alabama Education Association -- the state teachers  union --
supports student drug testing, as long as the  cost does not take
"dollars out of the classroom," said  John Hudson, Baldwin County's
AEA representative.

Hudson said teachers can be tested if there is  "reasonable suspicion"
of drug use and added he is  "committed to working with Dr. Hollinger
on improving  our local drug-testing policy to include 'reasonable
suspicion.'" Wilhite said Baldwin officials are also  open to
examining the legality of teacher drug testing  based on "reasonable
suspicion."

The issue of teacher drug testing surfaced in early  December after
the drug-related arrest of 30-year-old  Christy Byrd Philips, a math
teacher at Loxley  Elementary School.

She was charged with possession of a controlled  substance,
second-degree possession of marijuana and  possession of drug
paraphernalia after Baldwin County  sheriff's deputies searched her
home and found  methamphetamine, marijuana and about $1,000 cash,
authorities said.

Efforts to contact Philips were unsuccessful. She  remains on paid
administrative leave, Wilhite said.
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MAP posted-by: Derek