TAMPA CATHOLIC SCHOOL: RANDOM DRUG TESTS A SUCCESS

TAMPA - One by one, 120 times this school year, students were called
into the principal's office without warning at Tampa Catholic High School.

It's not that they were in trouble. But they could have been if the
school's new random drug testing program turned up evidence of drug use.

It didn't, said outgoing Principal Pat Landry.

"It worked out very positively," Landry said Thursday, a week after
school ended for the year. "We did not have a single student test
positive, out of 120 students we tested."

The goal was to give students another reason to say no to drugs.

The program, the only one of its kind among Hillsborough County
schools, drew national attention and a visit from the nation's drug czar.

Random meant random, Landry said. Tests were done unannounced at
different times and days of the week. Some students were tested more
than once because of the luck of the draw.

Those selected from the school's enrollment of 800 students were
called to the principal's office and submitted to a mouth swab. The
sample was put into a vial and placed in its own envelope that was
sent to a lab for analysis, she said.

The test screens for eight drugs. One positive test would result in
counseling and follow-up testing. A second positive test would mean expulsion.

The program will continue next year under new Principal Tom Reidy,
the school's former dean. Landry is retiring after 17 years at Tampa
Catholic High.

She said the idea of randomly testing students had been kicking
around for a few years and last year she decided to do it. The
program is modeled after a similar initiative at Clearwater Central
Catholic High School, which began testing students in 2002.

In December, John P. Walters, the U.S. drug czar, visited the school
after hearing of the program. Students told him that the program was
less of a hassle than they had expected, although some said they
thought their privacy had been invaded.

Some parents also expressed privacy concerns, but all signed consent forms.

Public schools only do random testing of athletes in certain programs.