Pubdate: Mon, 31 Dec 2001
Source: Blade, The (OH)
Copyright: 2001 The Blade
Contact:  http://www.toledoblade.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/48
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)

CLINTON SCHOOLS' INTRUSION

A Michigan school district's attempt to keep students from abusing drugs by 
subjecting those who display signs and behavior of substance abuse to a 
saliva-based test that gives immediate results is much too subjective and 
presumptuous.

The Clinton Community Schools board of education had good intentions when 
it adopted a policy to administer the test to students believed to be using 
drugs. Students who display signs or behavior associated with drug use - 
blood-shot eyes or an odor of illegal drug use, for example - are sent to 
the principal's office where they are questioned.

"They can either deny it or they can admit it to me," Jim DuVall, 
principal, said. "If they deny it, I offer the option of being tested to 
prove that they are correct. If they refuse the test, we consider that an 
admission of guilt."

Well, Mr. DuVall presumes guilt, and school officials are not law 
enforcement officers or prosecutors. Clinton administrators have been 
trained to administer the test and teachers have been schooled about what 
to look for. But school staffs are not experts in these fields, and that 
they are not puts them in an untenable position. Suppose a student's eyes 
are red because he's tired, has an eye infection, or wears contacts that 
give him trouble? The district's guidelines avoid random testing, but who 
decides if an official is merely out to "get" a student who is sent to the 
principal for testing? It could happen.

The district says that parents are notified as soon as possible and that 
the tests are discarded. But there are other concerns that the American 
Civil Liberties Union is right to raise. For example, are the tests 
accurate, even if initial positive test results are verified by a 
laboratory? Are students legally charged? How do schools differentiate 
between one-time users and habitual users?

If test results are positive, a student is suspended for three or five days 
on the first and second occasions. If there is a third offense, students 
face a 10-day suspension and there is a recommendation for expulsion. So do 
results of drug tests stay in a student's records?

Some Ohio school districts, including Toledo Public, give student athletes 
drug tests, and that makes sense. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to 
issue a ruling on an Oklahoma school district that wants to randomly give 
drug tests to students in such extracurricular activities as choir. The 
Oklahoma district's idea is intrusive, just as is Clinton's, and the high 
court should find that to be so.
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MAP posted-by: Beth