DISTRICT TO CONSIDER STUDENT DRUG TESTING

MADISON -- Madison schools may become the first in the state to
require students to take drug tests. School Administrative District 59
this week decided to create a committee to consider what could be a
precedent-setting policy.

Superintendent Sandra J. MacArthur said Thursday there has been no
spike in drug abuse issues this year at Madison Area Memorial High
School, but student drug use is an ongoing concern.

"We're looking at random drug testing," MacArthur said. "We feel that
it would maybe help curb some of the drug usage."

MacArthur said the Board of Directors will form a committee during its
March 19 meeting to study drug testing.

Lawrence LaBrie, assistant director of the Maine Principals'
Association, said the SAD 59 committee could be breaking new ground.

"I do not believe that any (schools) do," LaBrie said. "It seems that
I would know of it."

LaBrie said that if a school district does do drug testing, he
believes it should be for a cross-section of students, and not just
athletes.

He added that drug testing is "very expensive, and the results are not
foolproof."

David Connerty-Martin, a spokesman for the state Department of
Education, agreed that SAD 59 could be the first in the state to take
such a measure.

"I spoke to our federal compliance person, and I'm not aware of any
schools that do that in Maine," Connerty-Martin said. "That doesn't
mean that there aren't."

At this early stage, MacArthur said, it is not certain whether SAD 59
would test only student athletes, or the general student body.

The committee probably will consist of teachers, administrators and
board members, MacArthur said.

The district includes Madison, Athens, Starks and Brighton
Plantation.

Drug screening would comply with a new policy set forth by the federal
Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Part of the National Drug Control Policy initiative calls for
non-punitive, random student drug testing.

According to an agency statement, drug testing programs "give young
people a credible way to resist peer pressure and identify those who
have initiated drug use among young people before it starts."

Kim Johnson, director of the Maine Office of Substance Abuse, said
there are better ways to prevent drug use than testing.

"We haven't been pushing it," Johnson said. "We don't see that as the
first line of defense. It's kind of a civil liberties thing. It's
like, where do you draw the line?"

Johnson said schools and communities can prevent substance abuse
through other means, such as drug and alcohol education, and working
with parents.