Pubdate: Tue, 23 May 2006
Source: Courier-Journal, The (Louisville, KY)
Copyright: 2006 The Courier-Journal
Contact:  http://www.courier-journal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/97
Note: Only publishes local LTEs
Author: Tonia Holbrook

OLDHAM SCHOOLS TO EXPAND DRUG TESTING

Plan Applies To Students In Any Extracurricular

Oldham County students involved in any extracurricular  activity will
be subject to random drug testing  beginning next year, under a policy
change the school  board adopted unanimously last night.

It applies to students involved in clubs, academic  teams and other
activities approved by the district but  not necessary to graduate.

"It's a societal issue we have to deal with," Board  Chairwoman Linda
Theiss said.

Random drug testing has been controversial in Oldham  schools since
the district began testing student  athletes in 1998, but this latest
change brought no  public dissent.

No parents have addressed the board since the plan was  proposed last
month, and board members passed it  without discussion last night.

Joyce Fletcher, the board's vice chairwoman, said  random drug testing
has become accepted by parents and  students as "the way we conduct
business in athletics."

She added that some parents have expressed interest in  making the
random tests apply to the entire student  body.

But board attorney Anne Courtney Coorssen said that's  not legal. She
said schools could issue the random  tests only to students involved
in optional activities.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1995 that random drug  tests for
student athletes were not a violation of  students' rights. The court
broadened the scope of that  decision in 2002, when it upheld schools'
right to test  students involved in extracurricular activities.

Since then, expanded random drug testing has become a  trend in
schools nationwide. More than two dozen  districts in Kentucky have
drug testing, whether it  applies only to athletes, to students in
extracurricular activities or to those who drive to  school. For some
districts, it's a combination of the  three options.

Oldham parents also can sign up their children for the  testing
pool.

The only group Oldham schools aren't testing are  student drivers, and
Coorssen said that's only because  the district doesn't have the money
for it.

Oldham schools have been paying for the testing out of  the district's
general fund to the tune of about  $10,000 annually over the past
couple of years.

The board moved to expand the tests this year because  it's getting a
federal grant that will pay $167,000  annually if students in
extracurricular activities are  included. The grant is renewable after
three years.

Administrators estimate that the number of tests  administered
annually will increase from about 900 to  3,500 with the grant.

A student asked to take the test must submit a urine  sample, which is
analyzed by BaptistWorx, an  occupational health clinic affiliated
with Baptist  Hospital Northeast in La Grange.

The samples are screened for substances that include  marijuana,
tobacco products, LSD and prescription  medication. Next year the
tests also will screen for  ecstasy. 
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MAP posted-by: SHeath(DPF Florida)