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Drug testing for school employees
In today’s Journal, I wrote about drug testing for school employees.
The legally-required minimum for drug testing for school districts is to test employees who are driving vehicles. Most of the local districts are not going beyond that at this point. Madison schools has implemented random testing for its employees not represented by the teacher’s union and has entered the Ohio Bureau of Worker’s Compensation level one Drug-Free Workplace Program, which requires pre-employment, post-accident and on suspicion testing for employees.
The Ohio Federation of Teachers’ legal director, Darold Johnson, testified before the state legislature recently that the level one program, which comes with a 10 percent discount, could be implemented without negotiating with collective bargaining units. Random testing for all employees likely would require negotiation.
Middletown board Vice President Katie McNeil weighed in on the article that she thought drug testing was just “part of doing business,” at this point. McNeil is a former educator who is currently the vice president of Miami Machine Corp., a manufacturing company.
I talked to a couple other local board members last night, but their comments didn’t make it in today’s article.
Edgewood board member Karen McIntyre strongly opposed last year’s plan to implement random drug testing for students participating in non-graded privileges lie extracurricular activities at Edgewood.
She said that she would favor drug testing for teachers more than drug testing for students.
“I would be more in favor of that than I was for the drug testing for the students,” she said. “The teachers are having day-to-day contact with students and it’s really important to make sure that our students are safe.”
Franklin board member and retired educator JoAnn Feltner, who is on the National Schools Boards Association’s Federal Relations Network with McNeil, said she wouldn’t support drug testing for all employees unless is were thoroughly studied with sound reasoning behind the decision.
“I really don’t favor that unless there’s cause,” she said. “Just to do it for all employees, I think that sends a message of distrust, especially when you’re dealing with professionals.”
I couldn’t find much research on educator drug testing or drug use. Most of the research out there is for adults as a whole or for students.
I’m not sure that the “adults as a whole” research would apply, as teachers are generally better behaved that society as a whole, especially given the background checks teachers are required to pass to renew certification or be hired for a job in Ohio. According to that research, about 6 percent of adults have used drugs in the last 30 days.
When Madison implemented drug testing, board president Glenn Cappel, who was the driving force behind that move, said he wanted to make sure there were no problems in the district. He has said he wants to bring this to the teacher’s union during the next round of negotiations.
Cappel also pointed out that in his trade in the construction industry, he has to submit to drug testing, and questioned why people who are working with children every day don’t.
In 2004, about 62 percent of U.S. companies drug tested their employees, according to the American Management Association.
Some of the arguments I’ve heard center around privacy. Because school employees work in the public sector, discipline is public record. The concern is that although a school employee’s failing a drug test would be confidential under medical privacy laws, if the employee were disciplined with a suspension, everyone in the school community would know why.
The National Education Association, the country’s largest teacher’s union, has long opposed drug testing for its members, saying that it would be unprofessional and degrading.
What do you think? Should school employees undergo drug testing?
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