PV SCHOOLS EXPAND STUDENT DRUG TESTING

The Paradise Valley Unified School District, which became the first
district in the state to randomly drug test athletes in 1991, is expanding
the program voluntarily to all high school and middle school students.

Parents will be able to sign up their children for random drug testing
beginning in November. It's believed to be the first district in the state
to do so. Students playing sports still face mandatory random drug testing.

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that schools can have mandatory random
drug testing for athletes, but the ruling doesn't extend to testing all
students. District officials say they are adhering to that ruling because
the drug testing is voluntary. advertisement

School officials will tell parents if their children test positive, but the
students won't face discipline or criminal charges.

"Basically it's a support system for parents," said Jim Lee, the district's
director of student services. The Paradise Valley school board unanimously
approved the program Thursday night. The board based its decision in part
on a survey conducted last year that showed a vast majority of district
parents would support such a program.

The Arizona chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union has opposed
random drug testing without cause in schools and opposes the Paradise
Valley's voluntary random testing, said president Stan Furman.

"If they are going to have drug testing, they should have not only the
parents permission, but the kids permission."

Paradise Valley requires only parents to give permission, not students.

Only a handful of Arizona school districts, including Paradise Valley,
Queen Creek and Show Low, have random drug testing for student athletes.
Many Arizona school districts shy away because of the cost of testing and
possible lawsuits. Paradise Valley pays $21,000 a year to random drug test
between 400 and 500 athletes while Show Low pays about $35 a test.

More than 200 schools and school districts in the United States do some
form of drug testing, according to the White House Office of National Drug
Control Policy. The agency's spokeswoman, Jennifer De Vallance, predicts it
will become even more common in the future.

President George W. Bush has been a strong advocate of random testing. This
year, Congress set aside an estimated $6.5 million for school drug-testing
programs, and 32 grants are expected to be announced by the end of September.

When the program begins in November, parents can sign up through their
school principal. Schools also will provide free drug-testing kits to
parents or give them vouchers for free drug-testing at a lab. It is funded
through an $18,000 grant from the Maricopa County Attorney's Office.

Jesse Acosta, principal of Greenway Middle School near 32nd Street and
Greenway Road, said the new program will be useful to both the school and
parents.

"We have parents who come in and say, 'I'm struggling with my child at
home, and I think he may be involved with drugs. We would have them talk to
the counselor, but that doesn't really get to the root of the problem."

Once the program starts, Acosta said the school can offer the parent free
vouchers to get the student drug testing.

Paradise Valley is the fourth-largest school district in the state with
about 33,100 students and serves northeast Phoenix and a small part of
Scottsdale.

Parent Nancy Reynolds, who has a freshman daughter at Horizon High School,
said she will sign up her daughter for the voluntary program.

"I don't think athletes should be the only ones tested," she said.

Reynolds does wonder, however, whether parents whose children are most
likely to use drugs will be inclined to sign up.

Her daughter, Brittany, 14, said she has no problems being tested.

Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne was a member of the
Paradise Valley School Board when the board decided to start random drug
testing in 1991. The district was sued by a student but prevailed in court.

"I think it's an excellent idea," Horne said about expanding the program.
"Parents need to know if their child has a problem so that need can be
addressed."

Horne said the program will reduce drug use and "where it does occur, it
will enable the parents to be alerted to the problem and address the
problem with their child and a therapist."