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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Tony DeLuca |
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DeLuca plans bill to require drug testing of school applicants
HARRISBURG, June 11– State Rep. Tony DeLuca, D-Allegheny, plans to introduce legislation that would require potential public and private school employees, including independent contractors who would have contact with children, to undergo drug testing as a condition of being hired by schools in Pennsylvania.
The proposal by DeLuca, chairman of the House Insurance Committee, would require people applying for administrative and other positions in school districts, as well as with vocational-technical and intermediate units, to undergo drug testing. The applicants' drug testing would have to be recent, within 90 days of the application, in order to be accepted by school districts.
"We entrust our children's welfare to school employees daily, so it is only fitting that we pre-test school employees for illegal narcotics," DeLuca said. "I want to make sure that our children are protected at school."
DeLuca said the state Department of Education would develop regulations for drug testing to be provided to school districts across the state.
"We have to change the law to ensure that our schools don’t hire employees who use illegal narcotics and who can put our children's lives in danger," DeLuca said.
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