$183,289 FOR SCHOOL DRUG TESTS

But The Federal Money Would Come With Limits, And The Board Is
Already Divided Over Random Testing.

BROOKSVILLE - The Hernando County schools can have $183,289 in
federal money for a random drug-testing program - if they want it.

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson's office said Wednesday that both Hernando and
Citrus counties have won part of the funding they sought this summer
to randomly test high school students for drugs.

But with a School Board that's evenly divided on the question of
random testing, and strong community voices on both sides of the
issue, it's not at all clear whether the program will go forward.

And two groups of students the district hoped to test - students who
drive to school and those in noncompetitive extracurricular
activities - cannot be included in the program, federal officials said.

Only students in competitive extracurricular activities or athletics
can be forced to submit to random urine tests for drugs, said Casey
Ruberg, a spokeswoman for the federal Department of Education.

And districts that have tested students outside those groups on a
voluntary basis, relying on the consent of students and parents, can
no longer do so, she said, citing new rules in this year's program.

"So students who drive to school are not allowed under our grant,"
Ruberg said.

Janice Smith, coordinator of the district's federal Safe and
Drug-Free Schools program, applied last month for $418,000 over
three years from the federal Department of Education.

Under that proposal, the district would create a "pool" composed of
all students who drive to school or participate in extracurricular
activities, testing 10 percent - or 220 - of those students monthly
for the presence of a range of drugs.

But the Department of Education's Web site said that such a pool
went beyond what recent court rulings have allowed.

"This program has been carefully designed in accordance with
decisions handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court," said the
guidelines. "To date, the court has not ruled on whether students
who park on campus may be subject to drug testing."

Smith said she was unaware of those limitations, but said it was
possible she might have to curtail the scope of the program if it's
approved by the School Board.

The board is evenly split on the question. Members Sandra Nicholson
and Robert Wiggins favor the testing program, while John Druzbick
and Pat Fagan oppose it.

That leaves Chairman Jim Malcolm, who voted against a similar
program last year but said more recently that he would consider
random testing in light of the district's significant drug problem.

Hernando students have been identified as being at particular risk
for drug use and binge-drinking, according to the Florida Youth
Substance Abuse Survey.

But the question of random testing has brought a strong reaction
from all quarters in recent weeks.

Calvina L. Fay, executive director of the Drug Free America
Foundation in St. Petersburg, said random testing can act as a
deterrent to drug use.

"More important, it gives students an 'out' or a chance to say no
without feeling pressured," she wrote in a letter to the Times.

But Lisa Hammond, project director of the Hernando County Community
Anti-Drug Coalition, disagreed strongly with that position.

"It's a punitive measure. It doesn't work," she said. "Our kids feel
so disenfranchised from the community. This is just another measure
that will further alienate kids."