Law Kept Teacher’s Arrest From School

The state board that licenses teachers was aware that an Orange County teacher and coach had been charged with possessing methamphetamine and marijuana in 2001, but under a law designed to protect those diverted into drug-treatment programs was prohibited from passing the information on to local school officials.

The clash between competing penal codes, one designed to keep criminals out of classrooms and another aimed at rewarding addicts who kick their habit, left officials at Brea Olinda High School unaware that Jon Noel Looney had a prior drug arrest until he was arrested this week on suspicion of drug possession.

Administrators and parents were surprised to learn Thursday that the law leaves schools in the dark about some drug cases involving teachers.

“This issue needs to be looked at,” said Barbara Paxton, president of the Orange County chapter of the California Parent Teacher Assn.

The California Teacher Credentialing Commission said Thursday it was aware that Looney had pleaded guilty in the previous case. But they kept the charges confidential and took no action against his teaching credential because the case was dismissed once Looney, an industrial arts teacher and the school’s former varsity football coach, completed a drug program in August 2002.

An average of 19 similar diversion cases are monitored every year, said Mary Armstrong, counsel for the commission’s Division of Professional Practices. Most of the teachers complete the programs, thus prohibiting the commission from telling schools of instructors convicted on drug charges. “It’s like nothing ever happened,” she said.

By law, the state informs school districts about teachers who are convicted of more serious crimes, including sex offenses, and the instructors face automatic suspension of their credentials. Teachers sentenced to drug treatment, however, escape such a fate and there is no obligation to inform schools that employ them.

Kim Gerda, a Santa Ana parent who co-chairs Children Learning in Safe Schools, said the case is an example of how a teacher’s right to privacy can put youths at risk. Keeping criminal information about teachers secret is wrong, said Gerda, who believes the state Legislature and attorney general should address the conflicting laws.

“There should be mandated reporting,” she said, especially if a case involves drugs, and the defendant is a coach.

“Where is the greater need? Is it the health and welfare of the students? Or his privacy?” Gerda asked. “It’s kind of scary.”

Paxton said she was unaware of the conflict in the laws but hopes the case will raise awareness of the potential risk.

Looney, 48, was arrested early Sunday after he was spotted driving erratically in Anaheim, police said. He sped off when officers tried to question him, ran at least one red light before crashing into a car and then threw a bag of marijuana onto the road after getting out of his pickup truck, they said. He admitted he had used methamphetamine earlier in the evening, court records show.

Looney pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges of possessing methamphetamine and marijuana, felony evasion while driving recklessly, destroying and concealing evidence, resisting arrest and driving under the influence of methamphetamine. He was being held on $25,000 bail but was expected to be released late Thursday, his lawyer said.

Looney has taught in the Brea Unified School District for 17 years and coached varsity football at Brea Olinda for 14 years. He has been placed on unpaid administrative leave pending the outcome of his latest arrest.

District Supt. Tim Harvey said Thursday that the same steps would have happened in the previous case had it been on the school system’s radar. Harvey said he was unaware state law prevented the licensing commission from disclosing criminal charges against teachers who are diverted into drug programs.

“That’s news to me,” he said. “That’s interesting information. It clears up the question of why we didn’t get notified the first time.”

Under a 1998 law, all credentialed teachers and other school employees are fingerprinted and subjected to a criminal background check, which is repeated every time a teaching credential is renewed.

Fingerprints are kept on file with the state Department of Justice, which has a small unit devoted to monitoring arrests of teachers and other licensed professionals. When a teacher is arrested, his or her file is flagged and the information is passed along to the agency that authorized the criminal background check. For credentialed teachers, this agency is always the statewide teachers licensing commission.

What the commission does with the information depends on a variety of factors, including the nature of the crime and the outcome of the case.

Some serious crimes -- murder, sexual abuse, drug sales at a school -- lead to automatic suspension of a credential, and the commission sends out a monthly notice to every school district. But with certain drug offenses, including possession, the board conducts a review and decides whether to suspend or revoke a teacher’s license. They notify a school or district, or both, only if action is taken.

Under a separate provision of the state penal code, the commission is not allowed to disclose drug charges when a teacher enters a deferred plea. Such an arrangement triggers confidentiality rules and prevents action against a credential while the case is pending. It also allows the case to be dropped upon successful completion of a court-ordered treatment program.