A divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday in favor of the Tecumseh School District, granting schools the right to drug-test middle school and high school students in competitive after-school activities. The 5-4 decision allows schools to test without proof of an epidemic drug problem and expands a previous court decision that sanctioned random testing only of student athletes. Justices wrote that giving schools an opportunity to rid their campuses of drugs outweighs privacy rights.

The case centered on the Pottawatomie County district's 1998 drug-testing policy. It called for random urine testing of students in competitive activities such as band, choir, cheerleading and FFA.

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