NILES SCHOOLS District examines testing for drugs

Questions must be answered before applicants are drug-tested.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
NILES -- A school board member is promoting required drug testing for job applicants before they can be hired.
"Most companies do it," said board member Marlene Rhodes, noting she was surprised when she found out pre-hire testing isn't a school policy.
Superintendent Rocco Aducci said the board will be provided with information about drug testing at its Oct. 20 meeting. The issue is being research by the board's attorney.
Currently, 180 teachers and 100 noncertified union employees are tested if there is suspicion that they have a drug-abuse problem. Bus drivers are tested randomly to comply with state law.
Rhodes said pre-hire testing "sends a statement to the public not to apply if you have a drug problem."
Rhodes said she is unsure where the issue is going but is surprised that it hasn't come up before.
Both Rhodes and board chairman Robert Davis, who supports Rhodes, said the issue isn't being raised because of any known employees' abusing drugs.
Unanswered questions
Davis said drug testing was brought up for discussion by Rhodes during the Sept. 22 board meeting. Because of questions raised that couldn't be immediately answered, "We got our wheels parked," he said.
"It shouldn't be a touchy concern," Davis said. "It's a drug-free workplace."
The hitches in the idea are: What to do with substitute teachers, of which there are more than 100 on the substitute list; and also those who have supplemental contracts. People with supplemental contracts are not full-time employees but are hired as part-time coaches and advisers.
These and other questions are being researched, Aducci said.
Davis said such questions must be answered, but he believes each person who comes into contact with a student should be tested.
Another question is who will pay for the test -- the school district or applicant, the superintendent noted.
Rhodes, who said she would submit to drug testing, said each test costs $40.
She indicated that the funds may be available, because of reduced workers' compensation premiums the school pays because the unions have accepted drug testing of members.
Background checks
Aducci noted that teachers undergo a background investigation by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, and have their teaching certificate from the Ohio Department of Education.
Drug testing before hire would be another prerequisite before being hired. "It's just another check," Aducci added.
School districts in the area began taking a closer look at their drug-testing policies after 2003, when former Girard Superintendent Joseph Shoaf pleaded guilty to charges of corrupting another with drugs, intimidation of a witness and possession of cocaine. Shoaf, who said a cocaine addiction led to his criminal behavior, was sentenced to five years in prison.
An affidavit filed with the Trumbull County Common Pleas Court by the county prosecutor's office says a 17-year-old student tape-recorded a conversation she had with Shoaf in his office at the high school. In the recording, Shoaf could be heard using cocaine with the girl, drinking vodka and talking of sex, the affidavit states.
yovich@vindy.com