Drug-testing bill could take broader stance

A resolution asking state lawmakers to mandate random drug testing for public school employees may have failed, but Lafourche Parish Councilman Lindel Toups isn’t giving up.

The parish council soundly rejected the resolution in a 7-1 vote last Tuesday. Councilman Daniel Lorraine was absent.

However, Toups, a resident of Gheens, believes this is only a temporary setback.

He vowed to return with a measure that would require drug testing for people receiving public money, including disability, Social Security and welfare payments.

To see his revised resolution approved, Toups will have to convince a majority of councilmen to switch their previous vote. At least one councilman, Philip Gouaux, said he would consider the second proposal because it does not single out an individual or group.

Toups argued he sought the resolution after hearing of alleged drug abuse within the parish school system.

The Lafourche Parish School System has more than 2,319 employees at its 17 public schools. A few teachers present at last week’s council meeting voiced their concern about the proposal.

Central Lafourche High School teacher Ray Barrios, who is also the Lafourche Parish Association of Educators president, said he is a father of school-aged children. He asked the council whether it was going to trample on the rights of the citizens of Lafourche Parish and challenge the U.S. Constitution.

“It’s an affront to the education system of Lafourche Parish,” Barrios said, “and I will not let my profession be challenged by the parish.”

Barrios said a similar proposal to drug-test teachers in Hawaii was deemed unconstitutional.

School Superintendent Jo Ann Matthews sides with educators. She said the state requires the school system to randomly drug-test bus drivers only.

“We abide by the laws that are presented before us,” she said.

However, the state provides for drug testing of other employees only if probable cause exists.

“We abide by that as well,” Matthews said.

Toups’ failed proposal drew opposition from the Louisiana chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

The organization says the proposal is a clear violation of the Constitution’s Fourth Amendment, which prohibits illegal searches and seizures.

The ACLU stated that the council should not request a bill subjecting law-abiding school employees to warrantless and suspicionless searches, according to ACLU of Louisiana’s executive director Majorie R. Esman.

She said the Fourth Amendment protects Americans from unreasonable searches. Similar protection is also in Article I, Section 5 of Louisiana’s Constitution.

“Invasive and embarrassing examination of bodily fluid is a glaring violation of the fundamental right to personal privacy,” she said. “Individual employees whose actions violate the law or endanger student welfare should be treated as the individuals that they are, and subject to lawful procedures appropriate to their actions.”

According to the ACLU, the law provides that innocent employees must be treated with the presumption of innocence and allowed to do the difficult job of instructing their students, she added.

In Esman’s opinion, the job of a teacher is to instill respect for the law. She said the simple notion that “those with nothing to hide have nothing to fear” is antithetical to the Louisiana system of justice.

“We know that you (the councilmen) are motivated by a desire to protect the children of Lafourche Parish and we also know that, as public servants, you are dedicated to the rule of law. But the safety of the students of Lafourche Parish is best protected by providing them with quality education and setting an example that respects the constitutional rights of their teachers to the presumption of innocence,” she explained.