Pubdate: Fri, 22 Oct 1999 Source: Bergen Record (NJ) Copyright: 1999 Bergen Record Corp. Contact: http://www.bergen.com/cgi-bin/feedback Website: http://www.bergen.com/ HEARING EXPLORES LAPSES IN DRUG RULES Three years ago, a student at Wayne Valley High School was suspected by a staff member of being on drugs. It was late in the school day, and instead of being ordered to take a urinalysis immediately as required by district policy, the student was allowed to go home. His parents were not notified until the following day, when the unnamed student was removed from school and given a drug test. No one on the school's staff was reprimanded. The memorandum detailing that incident, in November 1996, was submitted into evidence Thursday in the tenure hearing of Joseph Graceffo, the suspended Wayne Hills High School vice principal accused of violating district policy by not ordering a test in January for a student, suspected of being on drugs, who died two weeks later of a heroin overdose. Robert Schwartz, the lawyer trying to save Graceffo's job, continued to poke holes in what district officials call a "zero tolerance" policy when it comes to deciding whether to test a student or not. "We don't know if that student got into his car and drove home," while he was suspected of being high, Schwartz said, referring to the 1996 incident presented during the hearing before Administrative Law Judge Mumtaz Bari-Brown in Newark. Graceffo was not responsible for administering drug tests for that student. "Doesn't it give you pause that nothing was done that day?" he asked Gary Hall, the district's personnel director, who helps revise the drug policy each year. Hall had taken the stand to answer questions about his prior testimony on behalf of the district. Under local and state policy, a school administrator must require testing of any student if a teacher suspects that student of taking drugs or notices behavioral changes. It is that policy that district officials are citing in saying Graceffo should be fired for not compelling Nicholas Lucatorto to undergo testing in January after being informed by a teacher that she smelled marijuana on the 11th grader. Two weeks later, on Feb. 6, Lucatorto overdosed on heroin and died at a house party. Schwartz is attempting to show whether Graceffo acted differently from other school administrators in exercising discretion. The hearing resumes today at 9 a.m. Also on Thursday afternoon, Superior Court Judge W. Hunt Dumont in Paterson ordered the district to give Schwartz statistical information regarding drug tests at both Wayne public high schools. The judge, however, did not order the district to release nurses' logs with detailed information on individual cases as Schwartz had sought in a lawsuit. The district did not want the logs released, citing confidentiality of students. Earlier in the day, Hall testified that following Lucatorto's death, staff members had informed him that Graceffo had not ordered drug tests for students suspected of being high on four occasions dating to 1991 while he was a vice principal at Wayne Valley. But Hall later testified that previous evaluations of Graceffo did not say anything about miscues in handling drug testing. According to earlier testimony, Susan Ammerman, a physical education teacher, informed a school nurse and Graceffo that she had smelled marijuana smoke on Lucatorto on Jan. 21. But Schwartz has argued that afterward, Graceffo and the nurse inspected Lucatorto and did not smell marijuana. Instead of testing him, Graceffo alerted Lucatorto's mother about the incident and said the boy would be tested if another report came in indicating marijuana use. The next morning, Robert Flower, head of the physical education department, also reported to Graceffo that he smelled marijuana on Lucatorto that day. But Schwartz has argued that Graceffo thought Flower was referring to the incident with Ammerman and assured Flower the matter had already been "taken care of." Thursday, Schwartz argued that Flower violated the board's drug-testing policy by not notifying the school nurse in addition to Graceffo once he suspected Lucatorto of drug use. Hall reluctantly agreed and said Flower was not reprimanded for the infraction. Schwartz asked Hall whether Graceffo's role as president of the union representing administrators and his fierce attitude at bargaining sessions had anything to do with his suspension. Hall said it did not. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake