Fayette County school board members voted unanimously Monday to support the Kanawha County Board of Education in its bid to randomly drug test teachers and other employees.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Fayette County school board members voted unanimously Monday to support the Kanawha County Board of Education in its bid to randomly drug test teachers and other employees.
Fayette board members want to be known as friends of the Kanawha school board in its upcoming federal court case, according to a letter signed by Fayette school board President David Arritt. He addressed the letter to Kanawha school board President Becky Jordon.
Kanawha school board member Pete Thaw discussed the letter at a meeting Thursday night.
A hearing is scheduled Dec. 29 in U.S. District Court in Charleston. Judge Joseph R. Goodwin will preside over the case.
On Dec. 10, the Metro 911 governing board also voted unanimously to ask to intervene in lawsuits against the Kanawha school board. The Metro 911 center employs about 90 people, all of whom are subject to random drug tests, Director Carolyn Karr Charnock has said.
Likewise, Kanawha Commission President Kent Carper backs the school board.
On Nov. 26, the American Federation of Teachers-West Virginia filed the lawsuit in Kanawha Circuit Court against the school board. Lawyers for the school board then asked to move the lawsuit to federal court because the AFT argued that the drug testing policy violates the Fourth Amendment and other federal laws.
On Dec. 5, officials from the American Civil Liberties Union and the West Virginia Education Association filed a second lawsuit in Kanawha Circuit Court. The case has been assigned to Kanawha Circuit Judge Louis Bloom.
Both the AFT and WVEA seek an injunction before the drug testing policy goes into effect Jan. 1. Lawyers for both teachers unions have asked to intervene in the other's case.
Under the policy, the school system next year would randomly test the urine of 832 employees, or one in four of those 3,326 workers it considers safety sensitive.
Each side seeks a definition of who is a safety-sensitive employee, as a 1990 state Supreme Court ruling found that random drug tests in private industry applied only to those workers.
School board members, who approved random drug tests by a 4-1 vote on Oct. 15, define at least 45 types of employees as safety sensitive. The list includes teachers, coaches, counselors, custodians, aides, principals, Superintendent Ron Duerring and other top county administrators, and plumbers, electricians and most maintenance workers.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Fayette County school board members voted unanimously Monday to support the Kanawha County Board of Education in its bid to randomly drug test teachers and other employees.
Fayette board members want to be known as friends of the Kanawha school board in its upcoming federal court case, according to a letter signed by Fayette school board President David Arritt. He addressed the letter to Kanawha school board President Becky Jordon.
Kanawha school board member Pete Thaw discussed the letter at a meeting Thursday night.
A hearing is scheduled Dec. 29 in U.S. District Court in Charleston. Judge Joseph R. Goodwin will preside over the case.
On Dec. 10, the Metro 911 governing board also voted unanimously to ask to intervene in lawsuits against the Kanawha school board. The Metro 911 center employs about 90 people, all of whom are subject to random drug tests, Director Carolyn Karr Charnock has said.
Likewise, Kanawha Commission President Kent Carper backs the school board.
On Nov. 26, the American Federation of Teachers-West Virginia filed the lawsuit in Kanawha Circuit Court against the school board. Lawyers for the school board then asked to move the lawsuit to federal court because the AFT argued that the drug testing policy violates the Fourth Amendment and other federal laws.
On Dec. 5, officials from the American Civil Liberties Union and the West Virginia Education Association filed a second lawsuit in Kanawha Circuit Court. The case has been assigned to Kanawha Circuit Judge Louis Bloom.
Both the AFT and WVEA seek an injunction before the drug testing policy goes into effect Jan. 1. Lawyers for both teachers unions have asked to intervene in the other's case.
Under the policy, the school system next year would randomly test the urine of 832 employees, or one in four of those 3,326 workers it considers safety sensitive.
Each side seeks a definition of who is a safety-sensitive employee, as a 1990 state Supreme Court ruling found that random drug tests in private industry applied only to those workers.
School board members, who approved random drug tests by a 4-1 vote on Oct. 15, define at least 45 types of employees as safety sensitive. The list includes teachers, coaches, counselors, custodians, aides, principals, Superintendent Ron Duerring and other top county administrators, and plumbers, electricians and most maintenance workers.
Robin Rector was the only board member who voted against the new policy. Thaw, Jordon, Bill Raglin and Jim Crawford voted for it.
Also Thursday:
Kanawha school board members voted to replace kitchen hood fire-suppression systems at more than 60 school sites in the county.
"The codes have changed over the years, but we haven't," said Chuck Wilson, facilities planner and lead architect for the school system.
For now, Wilson expects the total cost to be about $700,000.
Board members agreed to contract with Harris Brothers Roofing and Sheet Metal Co. for a new rooftop heating and cooling unit at Andrew Jackson Middle School, where parents complained this fall that students were sickened by dusty conditions and mold.
Wilson said the rooftop unit has gone bad. Others might need to be replaced in the next 10 years.
"This was just a piece of the puzzle," Duerring said.
Harris Brothers submitted a low bid of $172,400.
Board members agreed to a $197,500 contract with Charleston architect Kent Gandee, who will work with Wilson over the next two years on the county's long-term facilities plan. Officials at two state agencies - the Department of Education and the School Building Authority - require that county school systems map out their current and future building needs.
Reach Davin White at davinwh...@wvgazette.com">davinwh...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1254.
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