ROYAL OAK SCHOOL CHIEF WANTS DRUG TESTS

Parents of 6th-Graders and Up Would Have to OK Random Checks; Only
They Will Get Results.

ROYAL OAK -- Voluntary and random drug testing of students as young as
11 years old could begin as soon as September in the Royal Oak School
District.

Superintendent Thomas Moline said he would take the issue before the
school board in May, and if it is approved, he hopes to see it in
effect for students in grades six to 12 by the new school year.

Moline said drug testing is a product of the Save Our Youth Task
Force, which was formed after three heroin-related deaths in Royal
Oak, Birmingham and Madison Heights in 2005. Moline chairs the task
force, which includes parents, educators, police, fire officials and
community members. And while the group's efforts are paying off,
Moline said drug testing, while controversial, would add an extra
measure of insurance.

"You don't like people thinking drug use is a feature of youth
culture, but it's here, in every public and parochial school center,"
Moline said. "Royal Oak is safe and our intention is to make it even
safer."

Under the proposed program, parents of children entering grades six to
12 would receive a letter at home explaining how testing works.
Parents would then discuss drug testing with their children, and if
the children agree the parents will sign a consent form, which would
be followed up with a phone call to verify the consent.

Once consent is established, a student would be randomly tested during
lunch or before or after school, but not during class. The district
would pay the $40 testing fee, and the results would go directly to
the student's parents. The school district would only get involved if
parents asked for the school's help with a counseling
recommendation.

"It may sound a bit Big Brotherish to do the drug testing, but it will
strictly be between the parents and their children," Moline said. "The
schools will not have access to the results."

Parent Jeannie Dolson, a Parent Teacher Student Association officer,
has two children at Royal Oak High School, ages 15 and 17, and said
she is in favor of the testing.

"I think it will give kids an out when they start feeling peer
pressure," she said. "Now they can say, 'No I can't go smoke dope with
you because I could be tested at any time.' "

Colin Roberts, 18, a senior at Royal Oak High School, opposes
testing.

"I would not volunteer to be tested because it seems the school
doesn't trust its own students to make good decisions, and that the
parents don't trust their kids to have good judgment about drugs," he
said. "I would be opposed to it."

The ACLU of Michigan said drug testing not only presents legal issues,
but also is a waste of time and resources.

"A 2003 study by the University of Michigan showed that drug testing
in schools is not effective," said Rana Elmir, communications director
for ACLU of Michigan. "There are more effective ways to handle drug
use, like counseling and after-school programs. And it could be
legally risky."

The New Boston Huron Board of Education adopted a mandatory drug
testing policy for junior high and high school athletes in 2003, but
hasn't considered expanding it to the general student population.

"We caught a lot of flak from some parents about it at first," said
Katrina Burnham, assistant to superintendent Richard Naughton.
"Parents were saying things like, 'Don't you think this is a violation
of their rights?' But that all died down eventually."

Before he puts the issue before the school board, Moline said PTSA
presidents will go back to their individual schools and explain the
testing at the group's meetings.

"The Save Our Youth Task Force has shown that student usage and
experimentation with drugs has dropped significantly in terms of what
the police are telling us," he said. "But if students are
experimenting, they will have the added weight of knowing they could
be tested at any time."