SCHOOLS ADD RANDOM DRUG TESTS

Ruling Spurs Checks For Students Involved In Activities, Drivers

HOUSTON - Schools across Texas are adding random drug testing and
increased locker inspections to the agenda this year.

At least three school districts in the Houston area and dozens more
across Texas will begin random drug testing, spurred in part by a U.S.
Supreme Court ruling upholding the practice and by the lure of federal
money that may help pay for it.

The Katy, Splendora and Huffman independent school districts will
begin testing this year, and one company that provides testing for
Texas schools has signed up nearly 30 districts across the state.

Each drug test costs about $20, school officials said. The Katy school
district has set aside $125,000 for the testing, $25,000 of which is
from federal funds.

The idea of random drug tests for students who participate in
competitive after-school activities and those who drive to campus is
an uncomfortable one for American Civil Liberties Union officials.
They have argued in lawsuits that such tests violate the Fourth
Amendment and other privacy protections.

"If the school district is concerned with the long-term health of
their students, this is the wrong way to go about it," Will Harrell,
executive director of the ACLU of Texas, told the Sunday Houston
Chronicle. "Students who are occasionally experimenting with drugs may
choose not to participate in extracurricular activities that could
lead them to a cleaner, healthier lifestyle."

Mr. Harrell said school districts should focus their attention on
decreasing the student-teacher ratio and providing adequate textbooks.

But school officials in Katy think drug testing will help the district
prevent drug use and help those who have a problem.

"If we can help one student get off drugs, then that is worth it,"
said Steve Stanford, a spokesman for the 42,000-student district. "If
we don't know they have a problem, we can't help them."

Starting this year, Splendora and Katy students who want to
participate in competitive extracurricular activities and students who
drive to school must have a permission slip signed by their parents
granting permission for random tests.

The company that will handle Katy's testing, Houston-based Pinnacle
Medical Management labs, will then randomly select students each week
from a computer database.

Harvey Graves, the company's chief executive officer, said about half
the student population will be tested each school year.

Last year, the Magnolia Independent School District implemented random
drug testing of students who participate in extracurricular activities.

Magnolia Assistant Superintendent Todd Stephens said that of 2,600
high school students, 250 were tested and fewer than five tested
positive for drugs. He added that suspending students from activities
is a last resort.

The Houston Independent School District has no plans to start random
drug testing of students, but officials said they will beef up locker
searches.

In 2002, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that school officials'
responsibility for the health and safety of their students can
outweigh students' privacy concerns, overriding the Fourth Amendment
argument against unreasonable searches.