SCHOOLS SAY NO TO DRUG TESTING

BROOKSVILLE - There was at least $183,289 in federal funding on the
table Tuesday night, and perhaps much more.

But a divided Hernando County School Board judged the price of taking
that money - asking teenagers to submit to random urine tests for the
presence of illegal drugs - was too high.

By a 3-2 vote, the board rejected a grant it won in October from the
Department of Education's Safe and Drug Free Schools program to carry
out the testing.

"I am going to join my two colleagues in opposition to this grant, to
say thank you but no thank you," said board member Jim Malcolm, who
voted with John Sweeney and Chairman Pat Fagan against the plan.
"It's not a program; it's a study."

Malcolm, who described himself as still undecided at the start of the
meeting, was unimpressed by the answers he heard from two federal
officials who came to Brooksville for the vote.

Asked by board member Sandra Nicholson whether random testing served
as a deterrent to drug use, Dr. Paul Strasberg said there was no
solid evidence.

"There haven't been any rigorous studies to establish whether student
drug testing works or not," he told the board.

Strasberg said the federal government hoped its analysis of Hernando
students and their drug use habits might supply such answers.

Eleven other districts across the nation were awarded similar grants
this year, along with 55 districts in 2005 and about eight in 2003.

But Strasberg's statements seemed to settle the question for Malcolm,
who criticized the lack of a drug education component and the
program's limited focus - by Supreme Court mandate - on students
involved in competitive sports or activities.

"It appears that a youngster walks the extra mile and involves
themselves in sports or extracurricular activities, then they give up
their right to privacy," he added.

Board member Dianne Bonfield joined Nicholson in supporting the
testing effort, citing gender research that suggests drug education
programs have failed, at least for thrill-seeking boys.

Fagan said he was convinced more could be done by the district in
terms of education. And he said training could help make the
district's existing policy of testing students upon suspicion of drug
use more effective.

"Our teachers and coaches know who these kids are," Fagan said,
referring to students involved with drugs or alcohol. "They should be
held more responsible in identifying them."

Malcolm said three out of five middle school programs in Hernando use
nothing more than the health curriculum in their textbooks for drug education.

Several parents and community members opposed the testing plan and
said the board's efforts to date have been misguided.

"If this is a serious problem, make it a serious agenda item for you
as a board," urged Hernando High School parent Bill Korn. "Let's make
it data-driven, and let's focus on the real problem here in Hernando County."

It was the second rebuff in a month for the federal program. On Nov.
21, the Citrus County School Board also backed away, with some board
members calling it too intrusive and others rejecting its narrow
focus on student athletes.