SOME SUPPORT DRUG TESTING IN SCHOOLS

Plan Could Start In Fall, Chief Says

Royal Oak

Some parents say they welcome a proposal to voluntarily test their
children for drugs, saying the effort will help prevent drug abuse
and spark needed conversations about drugs between parents and kids.

The proposal -- which Royal Oak Superintendent Thomas Moline intends
to present to the Board of Education in May -- calls for middle and
high school students and their parents to approve random drug
testing throughout the school year. Only parents would receive the results.

If approved, testing would begin in the 2008-09 school year. The
testing is part of a proposal from the Save Our Youth Task Force, a
community group that was formed after the heroin-related deaths of
young people in and around Royal Oak in 2005.

"We're not here to play gotcha. We're here to engage the parent and
child," said Moline, who also said the district's policy would be
the first in the state.

Moline said the program would cost about $12,000 next year. But he
expects the expense to be covered by community agencies that have
been part of the task force, which he chairs.

Libby Benton, whose son Jake Benton is a sophomore at Royal Oak High
School, said she would "absolutely" sign him up for the program.

But Rana Elmir, communications director for the American Civil
Liberties Union of Michigan, said random drug testing has been
proven ineffective in preventing underage drug use.

"The best way to prevent drug use amongst young people is not
through drug testing, but honest and open communication," she said.

There's no guarantee that a child will be picked for testing, but
just being on the list will be a deterrent, Moline said. The program
would be modeled after one in San Clemente, Calif.

Catherine and Kirk Goddard, whose 19-year-old son Zack died of a
drug overdose in April 2006, have been members of the task force
since it began and cochair a subcommittee.

Their son began experimenting with drugs in middle school, something
the Goddards did not discover until he was in high school.

Catherine Goddard said she thinks a drug testing program might have
helped prevent her son's drug abuse.

"We'll never know," she said Friday. "But I can't help but believe
it certainly would have opened up more conversations with him."