Jim Finnel
Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex News Moderator
Texas: Move Comes After More Teachers Arrested On Drug Charges
The Houston school district plans to dispatch drug-detecting dogs to every campus in coming weeks in search of illegal narcotics in employee parking lots.
The move, which Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra announced Monday, follows a recent string of teacher drug arrests, many prompted by anonymous tips, in the state's largest school district.
Since October, Houston Independent School District police have arrested a dozen employees - mostly teachers - accused of having marijuana in their cars at school and three employees accused of possessing prescription drugs without documentation, according to updated data from the district. Two employees were arrested twice, and an assistant principal has been charged with growing marijuana at home.
Saavedra said the district is moving to fire the employees in cases where there is sufficient evidence. "This is a matter of great concern to us and we wanted to make sure that our community understood that we will take whatever action is necessary to make sure our schools are safe," Saavedra said at a news conference, where he was joined by representatives from employee organizations.
Saavedra said he does not think the drug problem is severe enough to implement random drug testing of the district's 12,000 teachers, but said district officials would consider additional action after the widespread searches of employee parking lots.
Civil liberties issues
Only bus drivers, police officers and other security personnel are subject to random drug tests under HISD policy. Chuck Robinson, executive director of the Congress of Houston Teachers, said he was a bit concerned about the drug-dog searches violating civil liberties. But, he said, "we have to maintain the public confidence and trust in our employees."
Houston-area school districts vary in how they dispatch drug dogs.
Some, including Aldine, Cypress-Fairbanks and Fort Bend, focus mostly on catching students, rather than employees.
"We have limited funding and the funding is targeted on the student lockers and the student parking lots," said Cy-Fair spokeswoman Kelli Durham. "If we got a tip, we can handle that in many ways when it's an adult."
No employees in Cy-Fair ISD, the third-largest school district in Texas, have been arrested on drug charges this school year, Durham said.
Officials with the Alief, Aldine, Clear Creek, Fort Bend and Pasadena school districts also reported no teacher arrests when contacted by the Houston Chronicle. Leticia Fehling, an Aldine spokeswoman, said the district sends drug dogs to sniff lockers and other areas at middle and high school campuses. The dogs are sent to elementary campuses when invited, she said, but the district does not do random searches of employee parking lots.
"We view it as a constitutional privacy issue - just simply going out there not having a tip on a particular teacher or teachers," Fehling said.
Are all districts reporting?
Kevin Quinn, a regional director for the National Association of School Resource Officers, said he did not see a legal problem with randomly searching employee lots.
"Basically, all they're doing is sniffing the public air around the car, so there is no warrant needed," he said. Quinn, whose region includes Texas, said Houston ISD's drug problem might appear worse than in other districts because HISD is voluntarily releasing information to the media and is targeting employee parking lots.
"The fact of the matter is that they're reporting it to the media," he said of HISD. "I'm sure it happens in other places. You just don't hear about it."
HISD also has more employees - about 28,000 - than other area districts. The latest arrests occurred at Yates High School on Monday morning, shortly before Saavedra announced his plan to conduct drug searches at all 300 or so campuses. Two teachers at Yates were accused of having marijuana in their cars, while the other arrest involved prescription drugs.
Tarnishing reputations
Gayle Fallon, president of the Houston Federation of Teachers, which represents some of the arrested teachers, said a couple of them suspect the marijuana belonged to their own children or other family members. She advised teachers to have their cars detailed if their teenagers drove them and to keep a copy of prescriptions on hand. By law, having such substances near school grounds is a heightened violation.
"This is tarnishing the reputation of teachers across the state of Texas and definitely HISD," Fallon said.
The marijuana arrests have involved employees from Lee High, Whittier Elementary, Wheatley High, Williams Middle, Woodson Middle, Worthing High and Yates High and the food service department, according to a report provided by the district Monday. Woodson, Yates and the food service department also had arrests involving prescription drugs. Not all the employees have been charged.
News Hawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: Houston Chronicle (TX)
Copyright: 2008 Houston Chronicle Publishing Company Division, Hearst Newspaper
Contact: viewpoints@chron.com
Website: Houston news, entertainment, search and shopping | chron.com - Houston Chronicle
Author: Ericka Mellon
The Houston school district plans to dispatch drug-detecting dogs to every campus in coming weeks in search of illegal narcotics in employee parking lots.
The move, which Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra announced Monday, follows a recent string of teacher drug arrests, many prompted by anonymous tips, in the state's largest school district.
Since October, Houston Independent School District police have arrested a dozen employees - mostly teachers - accused of having marijuana in their cars at school and three employees accused of possessing prescription drugs without documentation, according to updated data from the district. Two employees were arrested twice, and an assistant principal has been charged with growing marijuana at home.
Saavedra said the district is moving to fire the employees in cases where there is sufficient evidence. "This is a matter of great concern to us and we wanted to make sure that our community understood that we will take whatever action is necessary to make sure our schools are safe," Saavedra said at a news conference, where he was joined by representatives from employee organizations.
Saavedra said he does not think the drug problem is severe enough to implement random drug testing of the district's 12,000 teachers, but said district officials would consider additional action after the widespread searches of employee parking lots.
Civil liberties issues
Only bus drivers, police officers and other security personnel are subject to random drug tests under HISD policy. Chuck Robinson, executive director of the Congress of Houston Teachers, said he was a bit concerned about the drug-dog searches violating civil liberties. But, he said, "we have to maintain the public confidence and trust in our employees."
Houston-area school districts vary in how they dispatch drug dogs.
Some, including Aldine, Cypress-Fairbanks and Fort Bend, focus mostly on catching students, rather than employees.
"We have limited funding and the funding is targeted on the student lockers and the student parking lots," said Cy-Fair spokeswoman Kelli Durham. "If we got a tip, we can handle that in many ways when it's an adult."
No employees in Cy-Fair ISD, the third-largest school district in Texas, have been arrested on drug charges this school year, Durham said.
Officials with the Alief, Aldine, Clear Creek, Fort Bend and Pasadena school districts also reported no teacher arrests when contacted by the Houston Chronicle. Leticia Fehling, an Aldine spokeswoman, said the district sends drug dogs to sniff lockers and other areas at middle and high school campuses. The dogs are sent to elementary campuses when invited, she said, but the district does not do random searches of employee parking lots.
"We view it as a constitutional privacy issue - just simply going out there not having a tip on a particular teacher or teachers," Fehling said.
Are all districts reporting?
Kevin Quinn, a regional director for the National Association of School Resource Officers, said he did not see a legal problem with randomly searching employee lots.
"Basically, all they're doing is sniffing the public air around the car, so there is no warrant needed," he said. Quinn, whose region includes Texas, said Houston ISD's drug problem might appear worse than in other districts because HISD is voluntarily releasing information to the media and is targeting employee parking lots.
"The fact of the matter is that they're reporting it to the media," he said of HISD. "I'm sure it happens in other places. You just don't hear about it."
HISD also has more employees - about 28,000 - than other area districts. The latest arrests occurred at Yates High School on Monday morning, shortly before Saavedra announced his plan to conduct drug searches at all 300 or so campuses. Two teachers at Yates were accused of having marijuana in their cars, while the other arrest involved prescription drugs.
Tarnishing reputations
Gayle Fallon, president of the Houston Federation of Teachers, which represents some of the arrested teachers, said a couple of them suspect the marijuana belonged to their own children or other family members. She advised teachers to have their cars detailed if their teenagers drove them and to keep a copy of prescriptions on hand. By law, having such substances near school grounds is a heightened violation.
"This is tarnishing the reputation of teachers across the state of Texas and definitely HISD," Fallon said.
The marijuana arrests have involved employees from Lee High, Whittier Elementary, Wheatley High, Williams Middle, Woodson Middle, Worthing High and Yates High and the food service department, according to a report provided by the district Monday. Woodson, Yates and the food service department also had arrests involving prescription drugs. Not all the employees have been charged.
News Hawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: Houston Chronicle (TX)
Copyright: 2008 Houston Chronicle Publishing Company Division, Hearst Newspaper
Contact: viewpoints@chron.com
Website: Houston news, entertainment, search and shopping | chron.com - Houston Chronicle
Author: Ericka Mellon
