Pubdate: Sun, 25 Jan 2009
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI)
Copyright: 2009 Journal Sentinel Inc.
Contact: http://www.jsonline.com/news/editorials/submit.asp
Website: http://www.jsonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/265
Author: Erin Richards
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?237 (Drug Dogs)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

RANDOM STUDENT DRUG TESTS GAINING GROUND SLOWLY

Starting this school year at Arrowhead High School, students in athletics
or co-curricular activities had to adjust to a new reality:

At any time, they could be pulled out of class by an assistant principal,
walked to a private area of the building, introduced to one or two medical
professionals and asked to urinate in a cup.

Four years ago, Pewaukee High School began randomly drug testing students
in co-curricular activities, and since then, the practice has gained
traction at local districts.

This month, the superintendent for New Berlin public schools announced his
support for drug screening and his hope that, with School Board approval,
the practice could be implemented by fall.

But other school districts, such as Oconomowoc, Hamilton, Whitnall and
Cedarburg, have had a tougher time unanimously agreeing on the benefits of
random drug tests.

The Whitnall School Board voted down the proposal in September, and
Oconomowoc's proposal fizzled several years ago. The Hamilton School
District, in the Sussex area, modified its proposal for full-fledged drug
testing and decided to test only students in co-curricular activities who
had previous drug offenses.

Jim O'Leary, former athletic director at Oconomowoc High School, said the
district's biggest hurdle at the time was a lack of data. Nobody, he said,
had been able to prove that randomly drug testing students in
extracurricular activities lowers the overall rate of student drug use in
a school.

Seven Drug Expulsions

For New Berlin, the situation hits closer to home. Of the nine New Berlin
students expelled by the School Board in the past two years, seven were
because of drugs, according to district data.

Superintendent Paul Kreutzer said the district recently intensified drug
searches conducted by the New Berlin Police Department and its canine
units. High school searches now extend past hallways and into the student
parking lot, Kreutzer said.

"I'm not going to lie; we did get some hits out there," Kreutzer said.

Kreutzer told the School Board this month that he wanted to broach the
subject of random drug screens because it could give the district a chance
to get kids into counseling, rather than encountering the issue at such a
late stage that expulsion is the only option.

"I think it's a really good idea," New Berlin School Board President Matt
Thomas said in an interview. "It could help us identify students with
these sorts of issues early on. A lot of time, we only see these issues on
the back end."

Drug screening became more pervasive after 2002, when the U.S. Supreme
Court allowed schools to test not only student athletes but also those who
participate in other extracurricular activities.

Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that the practice was a "reasonably
effective means of addressing the School District's legitimate concerns in
preventing, deterring and detecting drug use."

Drug testing in public schools is generally considered legal because
students have voluntarily signed up for co-curricular activities and,
therefore, have given up part of their right to privacy.

Pewaukee High School's activities and athletics director, John Maltsch,
said all parents and students sign off on the drug testing policy when
they sign up for a co-curricular activity. The testing costs Pewaukee
about $3,900 a year.

"It's acted as a deterrent," Maltsch said. "We don't get a lot of positive
tests; maybe once or twice for marijuana in a year."

In addition to marijuana, the drug tests screen for tobacco, alcohol and
other controlled substances. Out of 730 students at Pewaukee High School,
581 are eligible for the random drug tests. The school tests 20% of
eligible students each year by taking randomly generated student ID
numbers from an off-site computer program.

Positive tests translate into activity or athletic code violations and not
school-based consequences such as suspensions, Maltsch said. On a first
offense, students sit out for 20% of their activity's season. Second
offenses mean forfeiting 50% of the season.

At Arrowhead's North Campus, Associate Principal Pete Nejedlo said the
school hasn't received many complaints from students or parents about the
testing. In fact, he said, when freshmen or sophomores are pulled out for
testing, some appear excited to prove they are clean.

For all students, Nejedlo said, the testing policy provides them with a
solid resistance strategy to peer pressure to use drugs: "I might get
tested" can sound more impenetrable than "My mom and dad would be upset."

"It's another weapon for them to justify a good decision," Nejedlo said.
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MAP posted-by: Doug