STUDENT DRUG TESTING SUPPORTED

Select groups of Clay-Chalkville High School students are one step closer to
mandatory drug testing after a Jefferson County Board of Education committee
recommendation Tuesday. The matter now goes to the school board for a vote.
The board's instructional services advisory committee recommended approval
of the pilot program, which if approved by the full board would test
students participating in sports and other extracurricular activities such
as band and Scholar's Bowl.

Students seeking to park on school property would also be tested. Students
who do not drive to school or participate in extracurricular activities will
not be forced to participate in the drug testing.

Local opposition to the proposal has been noticeably absent. But the
American Civil Liberties Union opposes the idea, said Anjuli Verma, a
spokeswoman for the ACLU Drug Policy Litigation Project.

Verma said suspicionless drug testing policies are demeaning to students and
force them to prove their innocence.

"From a policy standpoint, with the other things available for funding, it's
interesting that schools choose to implement such policies," she said.

Without discussion, the recommendation was approved by the instructional
committee. But board member and committee chairman Tommy Little said most of
the discussion came when Clay-Chalkville Principal Randle Cassady proposed
the policy last month.

Cassady declined to comment on the details of the drug testing proposal
until the board votes, which Little said would likely be June 21. Testing
may be done before a student begins an activity or receives parking
privileges and will be conducted at random times afterward.

First-time offenders - those who test positive for drugs - would be
immediately suspended from extracurricular activities and/or parking on
school grounds, the proposal says. Additionally, they will serve a two-week
suspension from activities and/or parking, undergo six hours of drug
counseling and be subject to follow-up tests for at least one year.

Second-time offenders will have those suspensions extended for the remainder
of the school year.

Jefferson County Superintendent Phil Hammonds said the proposal is a
proactive attempt by Clay-Chalkville and its community to deter young people
from drug abuse. But, he insisted, the level of abuse is no more prevalent
than at any other school.

No board or school money would be spent to enact the Clay-Chalkville policy,
Board of Education spokeswoman Nez Calhoun said. She said all funds will
come from the city of Clay and grants. The program's cost has yet to be
determined, Clay Mayor Charles Hart said through a spokeswoman. Board of
Education officials interviewed Tuesday said they were not aware of the cost
involved with the drug testing proposal.

Verma said schools have been creating "coercive situations" by making drug
testing a requirement for parking and extracurricular activities, which she
said is linked to college admission. Students in some extracurricular
activities, like chess clubs and Scholar's Bowl teams, are the least likely
to use illegal drugs, she said.

But Little, who doubles as president of the Clay-Chalkville Parent Teacher
Student Association, said he believes athletes should not be singled out for
testing. He said the prevalence of collegiate and professional athletic
testing is not relevant to the school's situation.

"The whole issue is for intervention - early intervention," Little said.
"It's not trying to punish."

ACLU's Verma provided an April 2003 study from the Journal of School Health
that studied drug testing policies' effectiveness as a deterrent. It found
only 18 percent of 722 schools surveyed conducted screenings from 1998 to
2001.

"While lack of evidence for the effectiveness of drug testing is not
definitive, results suggest that drug testing in schools may not provide a
panacea for reducing student drug use that some - including some on the
Supreme Court (in two cases since 1995) - had hoped," the study concludes.

The study also shows policies that address attitudes, values and perceptions
of drug use may be a more effective deterrent than drug testing. Verma said
the counseling required for first-time offenders of the proposed policy is a
step in the right direction.

"That's a start, but (testing) without any suspicion whatsoever is still a
waste of money," she said.

But both Hammonds and Little said the Clay-Chalkville policy's effectiveness
can only be determined next spring when the pilot program would be reviewed.

"It may not be perfect, but it's a step in the right direction," Little
said.