Pubdate: Sun, 06 Mar 2005
Source: Salisbury Post (NC)
Copyright: 2005 Post Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.salisburypost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/380
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States)

ONE STEP AT A TIME

If the Rowan-Salisbury School System is going to implement random drug 
tests for students at some time in the future, South Rowan High may point 
the way in devising a moderate approach on a controversial issue.

For parents and students who oppose any testing on principle, the proposal 
to link tests to student parking permits probably won't change any minds. 
But it's likely to gain broader support than other options for two reasons: 
It emerged from a school-based group, and it's limited in scope yet broad 
enough to get the attention of any student who drives to school - or rides 
with another student driver.

Giving individual schools the leeway to set their own course in this area 
may be the optimal solution.

It's certainly one that the school board should consider. While the board 
can't allow individual school communities to do their own redistricting, it 
can allow them to set their own drug-testing policies, providing they 
adhere to limits outlined in previous court rulings. Local control won't 
dispel concerns that such tests abridge individual rights - or that a 
particular policy may not go far enough.

But community control is more likely to yield decisions that a majority of 
each school's parents, teachers, students and staff can accept.

Broad-based support is essential for any testing policy to succeed.

At South Rowan, administrators have given themselves a solid foundation for 
approaching this issue.

An important first step was the school's Choice program, in which students 
volunteer to participate in random drug tests. Positive reactions to that 
program may have helped persuade some skeptical parents to consider 
expanding the testing routine.

In addition, the recommendation to link random tests to parking permits 
percolated up through the School Improvement Team, rather than being handed 
down as a bureaucratic edict. The school followed up with a public forum 
that gave people a chance to ask questions, voice concerns and hear 
different viewpoints. That doesn't necessarily mean everyone endorses the 
recommendation, but it does make people feel connected to the process - and 
thus more likely to accept the outcome.

The unknown factor here is whether random testing is effective as a 
deterrent. Like questions about the deterrent effect of capital punishment, 
that's an issue that can generate endless debate, with no definitive 
answer. What's certain, however, is that far too many youths experiment 
with drugs, with sometimes tragic consequences. It may be that random 
testing is a way to help some resist temptation. Rather than rush headlong 
into a systemwide policy, however, better to follow South Rowan's example 
of going a step at a time, a school at a time - and closely watch where 
those steps lead.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom