Pubdate: Wed, 12 Jun 2002
Source: News-Sentinel, The (Fort  Wayne, IN)
Copyright: 2002 The News-Sentinel
Contact:  http://www.fortwayne.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1077

VALID WORRY ABOUT DRUG-TESTING PLAN

Schools Are Equipped To Do Some Things And Not Equipped To Do Others.

Fort Wayne Community Schools board members are right to be cautious about a 
new drug-testing plan from Superintendent Thomas Fowler-Finn. There's one 
fairly good reason for the caution, which board members seem well aware of, 
and a very good reason they might not have even considered.

Fowler-Finn wants to test students at school at their parents' request. 
Hair samples would be taken from a child at school in the parents' 
presence, with the strand sent to an independent lab for testing. The 
results would be given to the parents, who could then decide whether they 
would share the information with school officials. The superintendent says 
the plan will help parents who feel they have students they can't control.

Board members correctly worry about the issue of student privacy if the 
plan is implemented.

That's not an awfully strong issue, but it is valid. There is already 
precedent for not granting students as much privacy as adults enjoy in the 
world at large, with such intrusions as drug-sniffing dogs and locker 
searches-on-demand. But this does take the intrusions one step further. And 
some parents, as board members suggest, might not fully appreciate the 
consequences of their requests; if they do decide to share the results, it 
could mean anything from a school suspension to police action for their 
children.

A much better reason to question the drug policy is that it would give FWCS 
personnel yet one more duty to perform that takes time away from the 
education mission. People who are already worried about feeding students 
and providing them with everything from nursing to social work would have 
to add to their already demanding role as police officers. Will it get to 
the point where there's barely enough time for a math or English class 
sometime during the day?

Public schools faced with increasing competition from charters and private 
schools correctly complain that those schools have the big advantage of not 
being burdened with a lot of rules and regulations and duties that always 
seem to take precedence over the classroom. Is the way to change that 
really to fight those alternative schools, or is it to give public schools 
the same chance to achieve their basic mission?

Schools are equipped to do some things and not equipped to do others. 
Parents should demand a commitment to quality education from their 
children's teachers. If they have worries about drug use, there are places 
and ways with which to address those concerns.

Fowler-Finn is right that schools should let parents know they support them 
in all their efforts, including ones to keep their children drug free.

But the best weapon teachers and administrators can provide for such 
efforts is to make sure students leave their schools with as much relevant 
knowledge as possible and the mental acuity to make use of it.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart