A federal court has decided that a Florida school board may require all applicants for substitute teacher positions to submit to and pass a drug test as a condition of employment. The court held that the school board may, without any suspicion of wrongdoing, collect and search - by testing - the urine of all prospective substitute teachers.
Because the school board has a sufficiently compelling interest in screening its prospective teachers to justify this invasion of the privacy rights of job applicants, the court held that the school board did not violate the constitutional mandate barring unreasonable searches and seizures. The court also recognized that ensuring the safety of millions of schoolchildren in the mandatory supervision and care of the state, and ensuring and impressing a drug-free environment in our classrooms, were compelling concerns.
Read the court's decision by clicking here
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