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Drug Testing of Teachers

Drug testing of teachers involves the law regarding search and seizure, and it must consider both the general nature of a workplace with the expectation that privacy exists there and the specific nature of a school setting with the special considerations necessary there. As a general rule of thumb, drug testing of teachers is lawful under two circumstances: tests conducted when a school official reasonably believes that a teacher is under the influence of a controlled substance not permitted by law or school policy, and tests conducted pursuant to a policy permitting random, suspicionless drug tests. As with student drug testing, the drugs targeted are usually those with serious and dangerous consequences for use (e.g., marijuana and alcohol, but not nicotine). The most popular test implemented is urinalysis. Other drug tests include searches with breathalyzers and analysis of hair samples.

Privacy Issues

Public schoolteachers, generally, do not have an expectation of privacy in their workplace, including those places under the control of the school itself, such as classrooms, cafeterias, hallways, offices, desks, and file cabinets (O'Connor v. Ortega, 1987). Even so, educators have an expectation of privacy in their personal items such as luggage, purses, and briefcases. Suspicion-based drug tests of teachers are governed largely by the two-part “reasonable suspicion” test adopted by the Supreme Court in New Jersey v. T. L. O. (1985).

First, the search must be justified at its inception (i.e., there must be reliable physical or eyewitness evidence that the search will reveal a violation of a school rule or the law). Second, the search must be reasonable in scope (i.e., it must be related to the objectives of the search and not excessively intrusive in light of the sex of the teacher and the nature of the contraband and the infraction). Suspicion-based searches of teachers are justified on the argument that school boards should maintain a safe, efficient workplace, but the evidence used to justify a search must be reasonable. In Warren v. Board of Education ofSt. Louis (2001), for example, a school principal who ordered a teacher to undergo a urinalysis drug test noted the teacher's aggressive and erratic behavior at a meeting, but could not articulate a reasonable suspicion of drug use.

Random Testing

For students, random and suspicionless drug testing is supported by the Supreme Court cases of Board of Education of Independent School District No. 92 of Pottawatomie County v. Earls (2002) and Vernonia School District 47J v. Acton (1995). Earls set out a three-factor inquiry for the legality of such searches: (1) The nature of the privacy interest is lessened in extracurricular activities; (2) the character of the intrusion is minimal; and (3) the nature and the immediacy of the school's interest in fighting drug use among young people are strong. While there is likely some sentiment in support of the same sort of inquiry regarding random, suspicionless drug testing of teachers, particularly under a school policy that safeguards privacy, like the one upheld in Earls, the fact that teachers are school employees adds some complexity to the legal question.

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