Pubdate: Wed, 11 Jan 2006
Source: Casper Star-Tribune (WY)
Copyright: 2006 Casper Star-Tribune
Contact:  http://www.casperstartribune.net/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/765
Author: Jenni Dillon, Star-Tribune staff writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Test)

SCHOOL DISTRICT PLANS DRUG TESTS FOR FUTURE WORKERS

The Natrona County School District is moving forward with a new 
drug-testing policy for potential employees.

After months of debate, the school board on Monday heard a first 
reading of a new policy that would require a new hire to undergo a 
five-panel urine test for illegal drugs, as well as a breath test for 
alcohol, before being approved for hire. The policy is scheduled for 
a second reading and vote Feb. 13. If approved, it would go into 
effect this fall.

The policy proposal coincides with community-wide efforts to increase 
employee drug testing, as well as efforts by at least two other 
Wyoming school districts -- Campbell 1 and Sweetwater 2 -- to 
implement drug screening for teachers and other school workers. 
However, the proposal has drawn fire from local school employee 
groups, who claim that the policy could violate privacy rights.

The new policy would not affect current employees, though some 
already are screened based on their positions in high-risk jobs, and 
the district already conducts tests when there is reasonable 
suspicion of an employee's possible drug problems. The new policy 
would add pre-employment drug screening, meaning that any applicant 
would have to be tested between the time of being offered a job and 
actually starting work.

The district would contract with an independent, third-party medical 
facility to conduct a split sample urinalysis test. Urinalysis tests 
for drug use between one and five days prior to the test. The split 
sample would allow a positive result to be tested again for accuracy. 
A test that proved consistently positive for marijuana, cocaine, 
opiates, PCP or amphetamines, including meth, would bar the candidate 
from a job in the school district. The policy also would allow the 
district to give potential employees a breath test, which would 
examine a person's current blood alcohol content.

Casper Police Chief Tom Pagel spoke Monday in favor of the policy, 
explaining that about 160 Casper area businesses have started drug 
testing employees and that such policies not only can help decrease 
local methamphetamine problems, but also send a message that the 
community is serious about combating such issues.

However, Alice McNamee, president of the Natrona County Education 
Association, has consistently said that the association deems drug 
testing by a government entity, like the school district, a violation 
of the Constitution. She presented the school board with an 
evaluation by the association's legal representation, noting several 
possible problems with the policy.

For example, wrote lawyer Patrick Hacker of Cheyenne, government 
entities must prove a drug problem exists among employees, not just 
the community at large, to implement drug testing.

According to data provided by the district Monday, a total of 52 
employees have been required by existing policies to undergo drug 
screening in the last five years. One has tested positive. An 
additional six employees independently sought help for addiction 
problems in 2004, and 10 more asked for assistance in 2005, added 
Crystal Mueller, executive director of human resources for the district.

The district employs about 1,900 people.

Hacker also pointed out that the proposed policy would provide an 
exception for applicants using medications prescribed by a doctor. 
That exception, however, would require a person to provide private 
medical information to a potential employer.

Aside from McNamee's statements on behalf of the teachers' 
association, though, no one else has publicly spoken out against the 
proposed policy.

Community members, parents and school staff have a month to contact 
board members with their opinions on the matter, and public comment 
will be taken at the policy's second reading Feb. 13, immediately 
before a board vote.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman