A Richmond County School System (RCSS) School Resource Officer (SRO) has been reinstated to her position after drug use allegations put her out of a job in November.
Lieutenant Adrienne Burns was terminated after failing two drug tests, indicating the alleged use of cocaine.
Burns holds that the tests produced false positives, and made her case before the RCSS Board of Education during a personnel hearing on the morning of May 6.
Burns will return to her position as an SRO with probationary status. She will be unarmed and will be subject to frequent drug testing.
This decision was made in a 7-2 board vote.
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Drug screening and allegations
Burns was drug tested according to district policy following an auto collision she was involved in while on the clock on Oct. 9, 2024.
The incident involved three separate vehicles, one of which was a truck carrying Hurricane Helene storm debris. This truck struck Burns’ vehicle as well as the other vehicle. Burns was not at fault. There were no fatalities, but Burns sustained injuries.
Burns was hospitalized and later released on the same date of the incident.
She took an initial drug test from Nova Medical Centers on Oct. 10 and returned to work Oct. 11.
False positives?
The results of the first hair follicle drug test that Burns took came back as positive, and she was informed of the results on Oct. 17. She participated in a second hair follicle drug test which also came back as positive for cocaine use.
Burns said the results of these tests were inaccurate.
“I have never done drugs, I will never do drugs,” she said.
The district’s Benefits and Workers’ Compensation Coordinator, Franklin Hudson, is involved in organizing RCSS employees’ drug tests. Hudson said that in his six years in the role, he hasn’t witnessed false positives in hair follicle testing, but doesn’t think it’s out of the question.
“I haven’t seen it, but it could have happened,” he said.
Burns’ best explanation for the positives is that due to the hands-on nature of her job, she may have come in contact with the drug and then touched her hair.
After these positives and her termination from work, Burns took matters into her own hands by participating voluntarily in three external drug screenings as well as a polygraph test.
The drug tests included a blood screening, a urinalysis and a toenail bed drug test, all conducted by Any Lab Test Now. The blood and urine tests were analyzed by LabCorp and the toenail bed test was analyzed by United States Drug Testing Lab.
All came back with negative results.
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While the exact results of the polygraph test were not specified during the hearing, Burns stated that “the results of the polygraph test proved that I was telling the truth when I said that I had not used any drugs.”
“Since November the first, 2024, my name has been drug through the mud. I have been put out on social media, saying that I have done wrong,” she said later in the meeting. “I have stood steadfast in my belief, in my knowing that I have done nothing wrong.”
Burns has worked for the school district for 22 years.
