Pubdate: Tue, 21 Jan 2003
Source: Bristol Herald Courier (VA)
Copyright: 2003 Bristol Herald Courier
Contact: http://www.bristolnews.com/contact.html
Website: http://www.bristolnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1211
Author: Mike Still
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

BRISTOL SCHOOL BOARD TO LOOK AT DRUG, ALCOHOL POLICY

The constitutional ins and outs of student drug testing will be on the 
Bristol Virginia School Board agenda in February, when a draft drug and 
alcohol policy affecting students in athletics and extracurricular 
activities will be presented. Board members agreed during their Monday 
meeting to hold a first reading on a draft "Comprehensive Drug and Alcohol 
Plan" that is expected to deal with issues such as dog searches on school 
property and testing of students for drugs.

Superintendent Frank Finan later said that the draft probably will be 
submitted to his office by School Board attorney Joe Lyle about a week 
before the board's Feb. 17 meeting.

Lyle provided board members with a general outline Monday of U.S. Supreme 
Court case law on school searches and drug testing of students, as board 
members questioned him regarding the conditions and legal parameters of a 
policy involving those issues.

Lyle said that Supreme Court case law from 1995 and 2002 basically 
restricts school system drug testing of students to athletes and those 
involved in extracurricular activities.

"What you should understand is, just because they are students and children 
doesn't mean when they step into school they lose their Fourth Amendment 
rights," Lyle said. "If you do not have a reasonable suspicion if 
conducting a search, you can open yourself up to liability."

Lyle said that the Supreme Court's 1995 decision regarding a school 
division stated that athletes could be subject to testing not as punishment 
but for protection of the student and those around him or her. A 2002 
decision basically expanded the prior decision to all students in 
extracurricular activities, he said.

The Virginia High School League's oversight of several non-athletic 
programs -- drama, yearbook and forensics competitions, for example -- 
indicate that students in those activities would be subject to any 
drug-testing program the school system might implement, Lyle added.

Aside from confidentiality and security issues in any testing, Lyle said, 
the school system would also have to come up with a system of 
"three-strikes" sanctions that would not subject the student to school 
division or law enforcement discipline.

Students' legal expectations of privacy also enter into developing a 
policy, Lyle said, and the School Board would also have to consider options 
for a drug policy involving extracurricular activities -- whether students 
should just consent to a random testing program or actually have to take a 
drug test before joining an activity; intervention and counseling; parental 
notification; and allowing for legitimate use of prescription drugs.

Board Chairman John Kieffer asked Lyle if he researched drug search issues 
in schools, and Lyle said that the board needs to consider reasonable 
suspicion issues. Lyle said he recommended against taking a police drug dog 
into a classroom and having it sniff students because of the psychological 
impact.

Lyle did say that students' legal expectations to privacy did stop at dog 
searches on school grounds when properly trained and certified dogs detect 
indications of illegal substances at a student's locker or a vehicle in a 
parking lot.

Constitutional search and seizure provisions also make a difference in how 
locker and vehicle searches are handled, Lyle said, since a police officer 
would have to get a search warrant. School officials under some conditions, 
however, might be able to make a search with demonstrated reasonable 
suspicion and not need a warrant, he added.

Kieffer asked Lyle if students taking driver's education classes could be 
required to take drug testing.

"I'd be reluctant to," Lyle said. "I don't know if driver's education is a 
mandatory course. ... I'd be reluctant to expand it beyond the parameters 
set by the Supreme Court."

Lyle also said that drug testing for extracurricular activities gives 
students an "excuse not to succumb to peer pressure."

"As long as (students) are not punished by the school, by the authorities, 
then I think you'll be well within the court's parameters," Lyle said.
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MAP posted-by: Alex