WALTON-VERONA DRUG TEST PLAN HAS GAPS

This fall, student-athletes in the Walton-Verona school system may be
screened for alcohol, marijuana and other recreational drugs before their
sport begins. While this appears to be a step forward in stopping a drug
problem before it starts, focusing on such a select group of students isn't
the complete answer. With no reason to suspect that drug use is higher
among athletes than other students, the plan is discriminatory.

Mark Krummen, the principal of Walton-Verona High School, believes the
tests, which would be paid for by the district, can play a proactive role
by starting with the athletes. The Walton-Verona district has 508 students
in grades 7 to 12, of whom 287 play sports. So the tests will be given to
roughly half the students, but the question bubbles uncontrollably to the
surface: Why that half?

If the school board had proposed to test its athletes for
performance-enhancers - drugs that are known to give athletes an unfair
advantage on the field - then targeting the athletes might make sense. But
testing the students for alcohol and marijuana cannot be justified by their
athletic status alone. Students in other extracurricular activities, or
those who participate in none, are just as capable of substance abuse.

Student-athletes often are among the most driven, disciplined and healthy
kids. Testing them for drugs will not accurately depict the extent of a
school's drug problem, if it even has one.

Walton-Verona's plan, which can still be revised by the school board, would
bar students from sports if they refuse to take the test. That's
counterproductive, deterring kids not from using drugs, but from sports.

Educating students in the classroom should continue to be the course
schools use to make all students aware of the dangers of drugs.
Walton-Verona's policy states, "Every athletic program is required to have
a minimum of one drug education meeting with the student-athletes per
season." That's a great policy. But what about the other students?

The district should rethink the fairness and the effectiveness of this proposal.