KAHUKU — The state Board of Education last night voted against funding a new drug-testing program for public school teachers, saying it would take money from educational programs.

Some board members expressed reservations about whether teachers should be subject to random drug tests at all.

Board members called on Gov. Linda Lingle, who insisted on including the provision in the teacher contract last year, or the Legislature to fund the program.

"I think it's more important for us to use these funds in the classroom," BOE chairwoman Donna Ikeda said. "Let the governor, who was adamant in putting this in the contract, to come up with the funds for the program."

The board said it would revisit the issue at its February meeting.

The board last night voted 7-0 against a motion to use $400,000 from the Department of Education budget to set up the drug-testing program. A much larger sum would be needed to actually run the tests. One estimate put the cost at $200 per test.

The latest state teachers contract, ratified in May 2007, includes a provision that allows for random drug testing of Hawai'i's 13,500 public school teachers. The contract was ratified by 61 percent of the union's members.

The American Civil Liberties Union last September sent a letter to Lingle demanding the state halt plans to randomly drug-test public school teachers, saying it would violate their constitutional right to privacy.

At last night's BOE meeting at Kahuku High & Intermediate School, several people spoke against the program, saying it was unnecessary and unconstitutional.

Graham Boyd, an attorney for the ACLU, said that other random drug programs were not effective in identifying problems and this one would be a waste of money as well as being unconstitutional. After the vote he said it was an excellent result but that the issue isn't over.

"What was very clear to me is this board is uncomfortable with the idea of drug testing and also taking the money out of student support," Boyd said.

Robin Fancy, who had been a school librarian on Lana'i, said the testing program is unnecessary and insulting to teachers. Fancy lost her job because of budget cuts, the library lost its program funding and the librarian spends her own money to buy supplies, Fancy said.

"We need money to go back into the schools and restore lost positions," said Fancy, who is interning at Pauoa Elementary School while finishing work on a master's degree.

Department of Education Superintendent Pat Hamamoto said the department was prepared to use the $400,00 from its Impact Aid fund, but all that would have paid for is the program's protocols and training. More money would be needed to sustain the testing and that was not included in the supplemental budget submitted by the Lingle administration, she said.

"We need some assurance that this is something we can sustain, otherwise we'll be pulling funding from other programs," Hamamoto said. "As superintendent I believe the (classroom) programs we have in the department are critical to our movement to creating 21st century graduates."

Drug testing for teachers became an issue following several high-profile cases that included the arrests of four teachers on drug-related charges.

Leilehua High School teacher Lee Anzai, arrested in October 2006 and charged with selling crystal methamphetamine, pleaded guilty to a single count of selling the drug and was sentenced to four years in prison.

Two months later, two Mililani Middle School teachers were arrested for allegedly smoking marijuana before they showed up for work on a Monday morning. Each pleaded no contest to the petty misdemeanor charge.

Last October Ka'elepulu Elementary School resource teacher Bronwyn Kugle was sentenced to 37 months in prison for multiple drug offenses, including conspiring to distribute 1 kilogram of cocaine and more than 1,089 Ecstasy tablets.

Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com.