Drug Arrest Prompts Bill to Notify Schools

Brea Assemblywoman Lynn Daucher is proposing legislation that would require state officials to notify school districts when a teacher arrested on drug-related charges is diverted into a treatment program.

Daucher, a former teacher and school board member for the Brea Olinda Unified School District, says the need to disclose such an arrest outweighs teachers’ privacy rights because they work with children and serve as role models, said Chris Mowrer, the Republican lawmaker’s chief of staff.

The move comes after last month’s arrest of Jon Noel Looney, a longtime industrial-arts teacher and former varsity football coach at Brea Olinda High School. Looney, 48, has pleaded not guilty to possessing methamphetamine and marijuana, driving under the influence of methamphetamine, and other drug-related charges.

The California Teachers Credentialing Commission was aware that Looney had faced similar charges in 2001. But under a law designed to protect those diverted into drug-treatment programs, the commission was prohibited from releasing the information to local school officials. Brea Olinda officials said they were unaware that Looney had a prior drug arrest until last month’s arrest.