DIMMITT ISD BOARD VOTES TO SUSPEND STUDENT DRUG-TESTING

DIMMITT - The Dimmitt Independent School District has suspended its random
drug-testing program while it awaits rulings in pending lawsuits
challenging the legality of such programs, a school official said.

The school board voted 6-1 last week to stop testing seventh-through
12th-graders who participate in extracurricular activities, superintendent
Les Miller said Wednesday.

"We had talked to the attorneys at TASB (Texas Association of School
Boards) and our attorney, and both made the recommendation to suspend the
policy until we know what rulings come down," Miller said.

Tulia ISD is appealing a ruling that struck down its mandatory,
suspicionless drug-testing policy. Under its program, anyone in junior high
school or high school wanting to participate in extracurricular activities
must submit to random drug-testing.

Lockney ISD is appealing a ruling made last month that called its
mandatory, suspicionless drug-testing program "unconstitutional." Its
program covers all staff and students from seventh through 12th grades.

Either could impact the fate of Dimmitt's 2-year-old drug-testing program,
but Miller hopes he can lift the suspension on the program eventually.

"I hope at some point of time, courts will see fit that we have a mandatory
drug-testing policy," he said.

Miller said that the program has not been targeted as unfair or
unconstitutional.

"We wanted to use it (the program) as a deterrent policy," he said. "We
needed another tool for kids to say no."

He said the community has generally been supportive of the program.

"In fact there's a letter to the editor, from a parent (to the local paper)
in favor of the drug-testing policy, hoping we would have kept it in
place," he said. "I think the majority are in favor of it."