CHECKING ON STUDENTS

School Districts Should Gauge Local Attitude Before Enacting a Drug-Testing
Program

A sharply divided U.S. Supreme Court last week approved random drug testing
of public school students, removing any concerns that the practice would
violate their constitutional rights. But before school districts rush to
kick any such plan into effect, they should consider:

- - Whether the problem is severe enough to warrant random testing.

- - Public opinion and whether local residents want drug testing.

- - The expense of testing students, once or more each school year.

The court's 5-4 decision in an Oklahoma case widens the scope of an earlier
decision that upheld testing of student-athletes to now include all
students who participate in extracurricular activities, including drama
clubs and chess teams. What wasn't clear was whether the decision means all
students, even those not in sports or clubs, could be tested.

Nancy Bojanowski, manager of policy services in the Erie 1 BOCES district
near Buffalo, provides policy-making advice to more than 300 school
districts in New York, and she estimates fewer than 10 percent of them have
a student drug-testing policy. She believes the low proportion could be
attributed to uncertainty about the constitutionality of testing, but she
added that in the wake of last week's decision, districts should not rush
into enacting such a policy.

David Ernst of the New York State School Boards Association in Albany said
districts that develop drug-testing policies should make sure they reflect
their communities' values.

A spot check with Chemung County districts indicates none has a student
drug-testing policy. Before any school boards act, they should ask
residents and determine how badly they want a drug-testing policy and if
so, how extensive it should be.

Among the issues they will want to consider is how much of the student
population to include -- just the athletes and those in extracurricular
activities or all students? They also will have to determine whether a New
York state education law that requires parental permission will mean moms
and dads will have to sign waivers first.

Then there's the cost. A drug test and analysis costs $35 at St. Joseph's
Hospital, a spokesman there said. In large districts such as Elmira,
Horseheads and Corning, that would amount to thousands of dollars a year
more in school budgets.

There is no one-size-fits-all policy for districts. What Elmira does might
be far different from Corning. Whatever boards decide, though, should be
done in step with their communities.