Pubdate: Thu, 17 Aug 2000 Source: Baltimore Sun (MD) Copyright: 2000 The Baltimore Sun, a Times Mirror Newspaper. Contact: 501 N. Calvert Street P.0. Box 1377 Baltimore, MD 21278 Fax: (410) 315-8912 Website: http://www.sunspot.net/ Forum: http://www.sunspot.net/cgi-bin/ultbb/Ultimate.cgi?actionintro Author: Chris Guy TALBOT SCHOOLS END DRUG TESTING Officials Take Action To Settle A Lawsuit By Easton Parents EASTON - In an action being hailed by civil libertarians, Talbot County school officials agreed last night to scrap a drug testing policy in which 18 students were ordered to provide urine samples that were tested in front of other students in the school auditorium. Under terms of a settlement of a lawsuit filed by Easton High School students, parents and the American Civil Liberties Union, Talbot's seven-member school board also agreed to pay damages and to let parents decide whether to seek private testing for their children if officials suspect drug use. The settlement of the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Baltimore requires the school system to: * Pay an undisclosed amount in damages to the students, as well as their legal fees. * Arrange a meeting of school board President Steven Harris, Superintendent J. Sam Meek, students and parents to hear student complaints and to apologize "for any harms the students suffered." * Remove any mention of drug testing from the students' files. * Conduct an internal review of the conduct of Meek, school Principal Timothy Thurber, county Health Department drug counselor Sarah Smith and pupil service coordinator Beth Nobbs. "The decision to do away with the drug testing was the school system's idea," said ACLU attorney Deborah Jeon. "We think it reflects a more thoughtful realization that the benefits of drug testing aren't worth the risk. They've agreed to return a measure of authority to parents." Parents who formed Talbot County Advocates for Student and Parental Rights in January, shortly after students were threatened with suspension or expulsion if they did not provide urine samples, hailed the settlement as a clear indication that school officials overstepped their authority. "We think the message of this settlement is clear: What happened at Easton High School last winter violated students' fundamental constitutional rights," said Lynne Ewing, group president. Graham Boyd, who heads the ACLU's national drug policy litigation project, said drug testing in schools is relatively rare, but the Talbot case might cause other school systems to review policies. "A majority of schools in this country do not do this kind of drug testing," Boyd said. "In most cases, officials decide it's expensive, ineffective in stopping drug use and subject to these kinds of abuses. But, to my knowledge, this is the first time a school system has admitted wrong, paid damages and dropped the policy." In many systems, lockers and cars on school property are routinely searched and student athletes must submit to drug testing, Boyd said, practices generally upheld by the courts. But the Talbot case appears to be unique, he said. "I don't know of any horror stories like this one where you have a policy that turns educators into enforcers," Boyd said. "I think this case will give people the courage to stand up." The incident that sparked the lawsuit began Jan. 18 when 18 students were called from classes and told to assemble in the auditorium. A student had told school officials that a group of teen-agers attended a private party in Oxford two days earlier where drugs and alcohol were used, according to documents in the case. Students identified as party-goers were summoned to the auditorium. The teens, ages 13 to 18, were told they would be suspended and possibly expelled if they did not submit to tests. Parents said they were told to sign consent forms or their children would be immediately suspended. Held in the school auditorium, students provided urine samples in specimen bottles that were then lined up on the stage and tested with disposable kits similar to home pregnancy tests. A school security officer waited outside a restroom stall as boys provided urine samples. A female guidance counselor stood by in a one-toilet restroom as girls did the same, students and parents said. Parents said they were furious that officials made no effort to keep results confidential. A girl was asked if she was on medication "such as birth control pills" that might produce a false positive result. A boy whose test showed a positive result was escorted from the school in full view of other students. He was reinstated after a private drug test showed the first test had been flawed. - --- MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk