Source: Chicago Tribune (IL)
Contact:  http://www.chicago.tribune.com/
Pubdate: Fri, 7 Aug 1998
Author: Sheryl Kennedy
Section: Metro DuPage, p. 1

WAUKEGAN HIGH EYES RANDOM DRUG TESTS

Waukegan High School students could be required to submit to random drug
tests under a proposal being investigated by Waukegan school officials
that, if adopted, would make the district one of the first in the nation to
impose such a blanket policy. Although other school districts have required
drug testing of some students such as those involved in athletics, few
schools have carried the policy as far as the one being reviewed by the
Waukegan School District 60 Board of Education.

The proposal was made by board member Patricia Foley. District attorneys
are expected to report to the board later this month on a proposal.

Foley has suggested that the district look into a policy that would allow
the testing of any student, with the intent of not only detecting illegal
drug use, but also helping assure that students required by a physician to
take medication, such as Ritalin, to control their behavior, are following
doctors' orders.

The Waukegan proposal, if enacted, could face stiff legal opposition.
Although the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the random drug testing of
students, the policies found legal were limited to a small portion of the
student body, such as those who participate in voluntary extracurricular
activities.

District 60 Supt. Robert Kurtz spoke with caution this week about the
proposal, referring to it as "an idea" and "a suggestion" and no reflection
on the current environment at the high school of more than 3,000 students.

"We have made no decision on this," Kurtz said. "The question was asked and
we thought it was worth looking into."

Other board members took a wait-and-see attitude toward the proposal, which
was offered near the end of a board meeting last week amid discussions of
bake sales and more routine subjects.

"I really haven't thought much about the issue since the meeting," said
board member Anita Hanna. "I don't know what will come of it. However,
everything involving our children is an important issue. But on this, I
will wait and see."

The idea is rooted in maintaining a safe atmosphere at Waukegan High
School, 2325 Brookside Ave., district officials said. A student suffering
from a psychological imbalance could be just as dangerous without
prescription drugs as another student could be after taking illegal drugs,
Foley said.

Another motivation behind an all-inclusive random drug testing policy is to
eliminate the double standard that subjects students engaged in athletics
and other extracurricular activities to drug testing, but leaves out other
students, Foley said.

The district of more than 13,000 students in kindergarten through 12th
grade currently has no drug testing policy.

Of major U.S. school systems, only the Miami-Dade Public Schools in Florida
have approved a random-testing policy for all students like the one under
consideration in Waukegan. That policy was revised earlier this year after
backlash from parents and a threat from the Florida office of the American
Civil Liberties Union forced the school board to give students the right to
refuse the random tests, ACLU officials said.

In Illinois, limited random drug testing is the practice in some school
districts. Zion-Benton High School in Zion and Homewood-Flossmoor High
School just south of Chicago are among those that randomly drug-test
athletes. Chicago Public Schools have no drug-testing policy in place.

"We pull names of athletes out of a hat about every two or three weeks,"
said David Thieman, Homewood-Flossmoor community relations coordinator, of
the policy that's been in existence for about a decade. "Our athletes know
to check the board for their ID numbers and report for testing.

"Random drug testing has been very well received around here because it
gives students an out when it comes to peer pressure," Thieman added. "We
have about 2,500 students, and about half of them are involved in
athletics. So for us it was a way to take a proactive stand."

Some Waukegan High School parents expressed reservations Thursday about the
plan, and questioned whether such testing would be truly random.

"From what I understand, the proposal will give the school board a little
too much power," said Bob Ross, parent of a junior at the school."The only
way I could really support this is if there were strict guidelines."

Ross' skepticism was echoed by another parent.

"If this is the case, I don't think a group should be excluded," said Peggy
Williams, also parent of a junior.

The ACLU also objected to the proposal, which may be considered later this
month, maintaining that while participating in extracurricular activities
is voluntary, attending school is not, and students shouldn't be subject to
additional invasions of personal privacy.

"I find this proposal to be a very disturbing civics lesson in that
students would be forced to `prove' they are innocent even without doing
anything wrong," said William Spain, a spokesman for the ACLU's Chicago
office. "This sounds to me like one more case of drug-war hysteria run
amok."

Drug testing also is unreliable, Spain said, noting that a positive test,
even if false, could become a part of a student's record. The result, like
grades and extracurricular activities, could then be passed along to third
parties like colleges and prospective employers, with damaging results for
the student.

Spain called using drug testing to keep track of students on medication
"horrifying" and added that he has never heard of any other school district
making a similar suggestion.

The board in Waukegan also directed school district attorneys to review
drug-testing policies in place in other districts to determine what works
and what, if any, legal precedent the district may set.

"If we do it, it must apply equally to all students," Kurtz said at last
week's board meeting.

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Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)