STUDENT DRUG TESTING GROWS IN POPULARITY

SIGNING ON: Number of schools in region that test students for drug
use is slowly climbing.

RAISING ISSUES: Questions remain about civil liberties, effectiveness
of tests in deterring drug use.

Senior Stephanee Hughes stood in the weight room at Marquette Catholic
High School, untied her ponytail and waited for the snip.

Wearing latex gloves, teacher Carrie Lieberman pushed back the top of
Hughes' curly mop, searched for a section just about the width of a
shoelace and used a shiny metal scissors to clip the hair off to the
scalp.

"Hair grows. A little hair loss doesn't bother me," said Hughes as she
retied her ponytail and got ready to head back to pre-calculus last
week at the high school in Alton.

Stephanee is one of the 235 girls and boys losing strands of their
hair for drug tests, required for the first time this year for all
students. Throughout the year, nearly 60 more, or 25 percent of the
students, will be randomly tested.

Marquette is joining a small but growing number of schools in the St.
Louis area - and more than 1,000 nationwide - that test students for
drugs. Christian Brothers College high school in Town and Country, one
of St. Louis' largest Catholic high schools, also began mandatory drug
testing for its students as well as faculty and staff members when
school started in August.

While private school officials can require testing for all of their
students, public schools must follow a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling
that allows for drug testing of students involved in extracurricular
activities or those who receive other special services.

In St. Charles County, this is the second year of mandatory, random
drug testing in high schools in the Francis Howell School District.

During the last school year, 660 high school students, or about 20
percent of the pool, were tested, district spokesman Jim Joyce said.
Of those, 12 tests were positive for illegal drugs, mostly marijuana.

Like Stephanee, most students seem willing to go along with the drug
testing. To them, it's no big deal.

"I don't really have a problem with it, because I don't drink or do
drugs," Stephanee said.

But some groups have questioned whether the tests are the answer to
student drug use.

The Drug Policy Alliance and the American Civil Liberties Union
released a report last year that said random drug testing does not
effectively reduce drug use among young people. The American Academy
of Pediatrics said in March that more research was needed on both
safety and effectiveness before testing programs were put in place and
that testing can hurt trust between adults and teens.

Francis Howell North tennis player Katlind Graham is one of the
students in the district who could be chosen randomly to take a urine
drug test. She hasn't been chosen but says she is somewhat concerned
that the test invades her privacy.

But she thinks that the system has good intentions. "I think it
doesn't stop people who habitually do drugs, but it might stop some
students who don't use drugs from trying them," Katlind said.

Mike Slaughter, principal at Marquette, said that's the main reason
why he wanted to start drug testing at his school.

"I've given kids a built-in excuse as to why they can say no,"
Slaughter said.

CBC school leaders considered drug testing for years. When they
discussed the idea with parents, many suggested similar tests for
teachers, said Brother David Poos, principal. The majority of the
faculty agreed.

"To be in solidarity with the kids, our faculty is in support of it,"
Poos said. Marquette also is in the process of developing a policy to
test its teachers.

Tests are confidential and random for everyone at the beginning of the
school year, Poos said. As at Marquette, all students will be tested
in the beginning of the year, and a fraction will be randomly chosen
for more tests throughout the year. A positive test leads to a meeting
with a school official, the student and his or her parents to discuss
options for counseling or other help. At CBC, if the student fails
another required test 120 days later, the student will have to leave
the school, Poos said. The same goes for faculty and staff.

Since 2003, the U.S. Department of Education has awarded more than $36
million to more than 88 public school districts to support random drug
testing.

Fort Zumwalt, St. Charles County's largest school district, reinstated
a testing program of its athletes in 2005. Collinsville High School
began testing athletes last fall and is considering expanding the
program to include all extracurricular activities, such as band and
drama.

Francis Howell's high school drug testing policy requires all ninth-
through 12th-grade students involved in extracurricular activities or
who have parking passes to be in a pool of students who could be
chosen randomly for urine tests. If they test positive for drug use,
they are required to receive at least four weeks of counseling and are
removed from extracurricular activities - and have their parking
passes revoked - for 10 days.

Francis Howell's drug testing program cost about $30,000 last year,
and the district is applying for federal grant money that likely will
cover the full cost as well as this year's.

Francis Howell is starting a voluntary drug testing program for its
middle school students this year. The district is still accepting
consent forms.

A positive test for drugs at the middle school level carries no
consequences, unlike the high school program. Joyce said parents will
be notified so they can get help for their children.

Lisa Williams, a parent of two students at Barnwell Middle School, has
not signed her children up for the voluntary program.

"I'm in favor of programs that can hinder a child from those choices,"
Williams said. "But we're so active in their lives that we don't feel
we need to randomly test them."