DISTRICT: DRUG TESTS NOT LIKELY

The Beaufort County School District has no plans to
begin requiring
drug tests for students participating in after-school
activities, even
though a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling indicates
they could.

Any drug testing policy would have to be decided at the
district
level, said John Williams, spokesman for the district,
and Beaufort
County schools are unlikely to start any such checks.

The issue has reached national prominence since the
Supreme Court
ruled 5-4 on June 27 in favor of an Oklahoma school
district whose
policy required drug tests for all students who take part
in
after-school activities. The district's policy states all
students who
participate in competitive extracurricular activities from
chess club
to football be subject to random "suspicionless" drug
testing.

Hilton Head High School Principal Helen Ryan said
she plans to explore
the drug-testing issue and take any concerns to the
school district
for a decision.

"We have been following (the Supreme Court case)
right now," she said.
"I think (drug testing) will be a topic that I will bring up
with my
School Improvement Council and assign a committee
to look at the
topic." Ryan said the committee, likely to be formed this
year, would
look at the policies of other schools and districts in
South Carolina.
The committee also would informally poll parents,
students and
community members to see if there is a need for the
testing.

"Right now I don't think there is a need for it," she
said.

POLICIES PAST

Hilton Head High has struggled in the past with
developing an
effective policy for addressing drugs and alcohol.

In 1998, before Ryan was principal, the school's drug
and alcohol
policy came under scrutiny because it made no
distinction between
students using alcohol or drugs and students in the
presence of those
using alcohol or drugs. The policy was later thrown out
because of
legal concerns, and Hilton Head High now follows
district policy only.

"That policy was an attempt to get all students to do the
right thing
at all times," Williams said. "It was a good idea, but
wasn't such a
good approach."

At about the same time, the school district revised its
drug and
alcohol policy to make it more clear.

The school district's policy states any student caught in
possession
of or under the influence of drugs or alcohol on school
grounds or at
a school-related event may be removed immediately
from the school
premises, suspended and recommended for
expulsion. It also states
school or district officials will inform parents of any
offenses, and
law enforcement officials may be contacted under
certain
circumstances, such as for violent or unsafe behavior.

Williams said the district evaluates the policy annually.

District policy does not allow for any random drug
checks, not even
for athletic teams such as football, he said. Drug
testing of student
athletes was made legal by the U.S. Supreme Court in
1995.

"We have so many things that we could be spending
our time and
resources on," he said. "And despite the court's ruling,
it does open
the staff and schools up to criticism."

Williams said parents could easily question why their
children were
picked for random drug testing.

"There is also a lot of cost in these drug tests and in
verifying
their results," he said. "What if one of them is wrong?"

"Suspicionless Drug Testing in Schools," a study
released by Indiana
University in 1998, found many easy-to-administer,
low-cost tests may
produce incorrect readings, and higher-cost laboratory
tests are
needed to verify the results of previous tests.

WEIGHING IN

Parents' reactions on drug testing appear to mixed.

"I think the district has other issues that should take
priority,"
said Karen Cerrati, a parent of a senior at Hilton Head
High.

"The people are stretched so thin (at the high school), I
would hate
to see any attention or resources diverted into drug
testing just
because someone says they can," Cerrati said.

But Joe Little, assistant coach for the Hilton Head
Middle School
chess team, said he supports drug tests.

"I think the Supreme Court is dead on target," Little
said. "We need
to do anything and everything to keep these kids healthy
and on course."

Little said that he would expect his son, Lance, who is
on the middle
school's chess team, to submit to a drug test if it were
required to
participate.

"I think it's a good idea to have the ways and means of
letting
students know that if they participate in illegal drug use
they can
forfeit their chances of doing what they love," he said.
"Let's give
the schools the tools to fight drugs."