Pubdate: Thu, 28 Mar 2002 Source: Oklahoma Gazette (OK) Copyright: 2002 Gazette Media, Inc. Contact: http://www.okgazette.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/317 Author: Bill Bleakley, publisher Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing) THE ROAD TO THE SUPREME COURT When the Tecumseh Board of Education developed it's student drug-testing program in 1998, its members had no idea that they would have to seek the assistance of the United States Supreme Court to defend their efforts. Tecumseh is a city of 6,500. Its people have a sincere concern about long-standing drug use by their children. Although the school district uses the usual weapons against drugs, such as education, counseling and interdiction programs, these efforts have not been fully effective in a state with high school marijuana use ranking in the nation's top 10. The board needed a policy focused on deterrence and intervention in an even handed manner, instead of one based on individualized suspicion requiring surveillance, accusation and prosecution, steps which would break the bond of trust between teacher and student. The board selected a policy of random drug testing of students engaged in competitive extracurricular activities. Under the policy, students who tested positive would have to participate in drug counseling to remain in the activity. There are no suspensions, loss of academic credit or criminal prosecution resulting from a positive test, just a requirement to seek help for the problem. The policy would not only be a deterrent to students using drugs, but would also provide an opportunity for students who don't use drugs to decline drugs offered by their peers without embarrassment. When the Tecumseh board adopted the policy, there had been no drug-testing cases in the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. The School district sought guidance from the Supreme Court's decision in Vernonia School District v. Acton, which found random drug testing of athletes to be constitutional, and the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals' decision in Todd v. Rush, which found random drug testing of students in competitive activities to be constitutional. However, before the policy could be fully implemented, it was challenged in the Federal District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma by two students represented by the American Civil Liberties Union. After the district court upheld the policy, the board reinstituted the policy. Although the Tenth Circuit held that the district had failed to demonstrate an identifiable drug problem among a sufficient number of students in each activity before implementing the policy, the court provided no guidelines on how to meet its standard. Tecumseh's petition to the Supreme Court was granted and arguments were heard last week. Tecumseh hopes the Supreme Court will recognize the discretion of local boards of education throughout the county to use their judgment in deterring if there is a drug problem among their students, justifying random drug testing in competitive extracurricular activities. Tecumseh does not want to have its teachers placed in the position of having to search out some "sufficient number" of students to be accused and prosecuted for drug use in order to justify a reasonable and thoughtful drug-testing policy. It wants its board of education to be able to act upon reasonable evidence that a drug problem exists and to implement a policy that addresses that problem in a non-accusatory fashion. The board wants to provide deterrence and intervention for its students, not punishment, and it hopes the Supreme Court will give guidelines to enable school districts across the nation to develop reasonable student drug-testing policies without the fear of expensive litigation which interrupts their educational programs. No one can deny that this country is plagued with student substance abuse. In a survey conducted last year by the Public Health Service in 435 schools across America, 54 percent of 12th-grade students and 45.6 percent of 10th-grade students reported they had used an illegal drug. If Tecumseh is to educate its children to be responsible and productive citizens, it must be given the opportunity to implement reasonable programs to deter such drug use and intervene with remedial assistance when substance abuse occurs. Bill Bleakley is publisher of the Oklahoma Gazette and an attorney with the Center for Education Law, which represented Tecumseh. - --- MAP posted-by: Alex