More Districts Implementing Program It took the U.S. Supreme Court to settle the issue, but public school districts can legally conduct student drug tests on a random basis. Many school districts in the Texas Panhandle have been doing so for years, some since the mid-1990s for students choosing to participate in extracurricular activities. And guess what? There's been no mass exodus of students unwilling to submit to random drug testing, no governmental crackdown of the "Big Brother" variety and no shredding of the U.S. Constitution. [continues 133 words]
The Plainview Elks Lodge is part of a national program and has been in existence since 1909. The lodge is involved in many charities and work to support and encourage area youth. Drug awareness for children in pre-K through 12 is a priority for the Elks. This year, five more area school districts added their names to the list to receive information for students, bringing the total number of educational packets distributed to 13,166. With Red Ribbon Week, a National Drug Awareness Week, scheduled for Oct. 23-31, the Elks have worked hard to get information out to all the campuses. [continues 421 words]
VESTAVIA HILLS, Ala. - Breath mints won't cut it anymore for students who have been smoking in the bathroom - some schools around the country are administering urine tests to teenagers to find out whether they have been using tobacco. Opponents say such testing violates students' rights and can keep them out of the extracurricular activities they need to stay on track. But some advocates say smoking is a ticket to more serious drug use. "Some addicted drug users look back to cigarettes as the start of it all," said Jeff McAlpin, director of marketing for EDPM, a Birmingham drug-testing company. [continues 412 words]
VESTAVIA HILLS, Ala. - Breath mints won't cut it anymore for students who have been smoking in the bathroom -- some schools around the country are administering urine tests to teen-agers to find out whether they have been using tobacco. Opponents say such testing violates students' rights and can keep them out of the extracurricular activities they need to stay on track. But some test advocates say that smoking in the boys' room is a ticket to more serious drug use. [continues 605 words]
VESTAVIA HILLS, Ala. - Breath mints won't cut it anymore for students who have been smoking in the bathroom - some schools around the country are administering urine tests to teenagers to find out whether they have been using tobacco. Opponents say such testing violates students' rights and can keep them out of the extracurricular activities they need to stay on track. But some advocates say smoking in the boys' room is a ticket to more serious drug use. ``Some addicted drug users look back to cigarettes as the start of it all,'' said Jeff McAlpin, director of marketing for EDPM, a Birmingham drug-testing company. [continues 586 words]
Vestavia Hills, Ala. --- Breath mints won't cut it anymore for students who have been smoking in the bathroom --- some schools around the country are administering urine tests to teenagers to find out whether they have been using tobacco. Opponents say such testing violates students' rights and can keep them out of the extracurricular activities they need to stay on track. But some advocates say smoking in the boys' room is a ticket to more serious drug use. "Some addicted drug users look back to cigarettes as the start of it all," said Jeff McAlpin, director of marketing for EDPM, a Birmingham drug-testing company. [continues 429 words]
Your Sept. 20 editorial, "Drug-testing policy supports local control," is frighteningly reminiscent of Lester Maddox and George Wallace pledging their undying loyalty to the principle of "state's rights." Jim Crow was nourished by the ideal of local autonomy. Your ill- considered editorial pits big, centralized government (always bad) against local community control (always good). The Constitution never enters the discussion. The five justices who concluded that student drug-testing does not violate the Fourth Amendment were not supporting the principle of local autonomy. Their arguments were constitutional. [continues 109 words]
VESTAVIA HILLS, Ala. - Breath mints won't cut it anymore for students who have been smoking in the bathroom - some schools around the country are administering urine tests to teen-agers to find out whether they have been using tobacco. Opponents say such testing violates students rights and can keep them out of the extracurricular activities they need to stay on track. But some advocates say smoking in the boys room is a ticket to more serious drug use. Some addicted drug users look back to cigarettes as the start of it all, said Jeff McAlpin, director of marketing for EDPM, a Birmingham drug-testing company. [continues 587 words]
VESTAVIA HILLS, Ala. -- Breath mints won't cut it anymore for students who have been smoking in the bathroom -- some schools around the country are administering urine tests to teen-agers to find out whether they have been using tobacco. But do such tests violate a person's right to privacy? Or are they just another way to keep students from illegal activity and on the straight and narrow? Those are questions being asked at school districts nationwide. Opponents say such testing violates students' rights and can keep them out of the extracurricular activities they need to stay on track. But some advocates say smoking in the boys' room is a ticket to more serious drug use. [continues 664 words]
VESTAVIA HILLS, Ala. (AP) - Breath mints won't cut it anymore for students who have been smoking in the bathroom - some schools around the country are administering urine tests to teenagers to find out whether they have been using tobacco. Opponents say such testing violates students' rights and can keep them out of the extracurricular activities they need to stay on track. But some advocates say smoking in the boys' room is a ticket to more serious drug use. "Some addicted drug users look back to cigarettes as the start of it all," said Jeff McAlpin, director of marketing for EDPM, a Birmingham drug-testing company. [continues 586 words]
NEW BUFFALO, Mich. - In this serene lakeside town, a group has gathered at the high school each week since August to try to hammer out a consensus on drug testing in the schools: a pastor, a basketball coach, a sheriff, a social worker, a superintendent and assorted parents, teachers, students and school board members. They have debated whether a first offense should bring counseling or punishment and whether they can best deter drug use through education or testing. They have studied the merits of urine, hair and saliva tests. But week after weary week, they have adjourned without agreement. [continues 1492 words]
NEW BUFFALO, Mich. -- In this serene lakeside town, a group has gathered at the high school each week since August to try to hammer out a consensus on drug testing in the schools: a pastor, a basketball coach, a sheriff, a social worker, a superintendent and assorted parents, teachers, students and school board members. They have debated whether a first offense should bring counseling or punishment and whether they can best deter drug use through education or testing. They have studied the merits of urine, hair and saliva tests. But week after weary week, they have adjourned without agreement. [continues 555 words]
WE FAVOR RANDOM drug tests for high school students - but only for those students who have chosen to participate in extracurricular activities. It is not that we would like to exclude high school students with no extracurricular interests from drug-testing. On the contrary, testing all of them undoubtedly would result in more parents being alerted about festering drug problems of their children. But the problem with testing all high school students is that it simply would be illegal. The law dictates that children must go to school. They do not have a choice. Therefore, requiring all students to be subject to drug testing would effectively mean that the law dictates the drug testing of all children. [continues 363 words]
Last June, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a controversial 5-4 decision allowing public school districts to conduct drug tests of students participating in extracurricular activities. Such tests have fostered a national debate over the past few years. Opponents of the drug-testing procedure were quick to predict the mass erosion of rights and privacy as school districts across the country jumped on the drug-testing bandwagon. Some have, and some have not, but at least school districts now have the authority to determine their own needs. [continues 176 words]
LOCKNEY, Texas (AP) - A West Texas school board went back to the drawing board, unanimously approving a new drug-testing program for secondary students after an earlier policy was declared unconstitutional by a federal judge. The Lockney school board voted 6-0 on Tuesday to implement a testing policy that applies only to students in grades 7-12 who participate in extracurricular activities. The earlier policy mandated testing of all secondary students. "I don't feel like we have a drug problem right now. This is a chance not just for athletes but for every kid in this community to say no," Athletic Director Joe Robison said in Wednesday's editions of the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. [continues 227 words]
In wake of the recent Supreme Court decision that ruled in favor of drug testing in the Tecumseh Oklahoma ISD, Lockney ISD trustees unanimously agreed to once again pursue random drug testing at the Junior High and High School campuses. In a school board meeting, Tuesday, August 13, Superintendent Raymond Lusk told the trustees, "The Tecumseh policy is very similar to the amended drug testing policy we had. In some ways it is even stricter." "The Tecumseh policy says if you refuse to take the drug test you can't participate in any extra curricular activities." [continues 623 words]
All I really need to know about civic life, I learned in high school. Move over, Robert Fulghum. It seems that there are a few life lessons that today's youths didn't pick up in kindergarten. So school administrators have decided it's not too late to pick them up in high school. Following the lead of Lockney, Texas, school administrators across the country are implementing random drug testing in hopes of stunting abuse. In 2000, the school board in the West Texas town approved one of the toughest drug policies in the nation, initially requiring all students in grades six through 12 to be tested and then, from time to time, randomly testing 10 percent. Larry Tannahill and his wife, Traci, were the only parents who refused to have their child provide a urine sample and, with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union, took the school board to court and won. [continues 596 words]
For the second time since 1995, the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the right of school districts to administer drug tests to students participating in extracurricular activities, and therefore address the welfare of the school and the student body rather than some misperceived right to privacy. The court ruled 5-4 June 27 that schools can administer drug tests to students in competitive after-school activities, broadening its previous ruling that applied only to student-athletes. We hope this finally clears the air in the Panhandle, where school districts in Tulia and Lockney have been on the forefront of a national debate. [continues 139 words]
On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court began hearing the case of Lindsay Earls vs. Tecumseh High School. Ms. Earls was attending high school in the small town of Tecumseh, Okla., a couple of years ago when she was informed that if she wished to participate in the school choir, she would be required to undergo a drug test. She was then ushered into the women's rest room, given a cup and told to step into the stall. Part of her objection to the process was the fact that as she was filling the cup, three teachers stood outside the stall listening. She claims the process was humiliating and unnecessary. [continues 770 words]
The Lockney Policy
