DON'T RUSH ON STUDENT DRUG TESTING

Even though the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that certain public high
school students can be tested for drugs, the Rapides Parish School Board
cannot rush to any action.

Given the fact that the board already faces a $7 million budget deficit,
this is certainly no time to enter into any new programs.

The ruling allows testing of students engaged in after-school activities.
The law of the land already allows drug testing of athletes, and
student-athletes in Rapides Parish are subject to random testing.

When considering the ruling which expanded the field of students who can be
tested, the board must consider how expensive testing would be.

The court ruling was 5 to 4, but if the majority can hold, it will likely
expand further to include random testing of all students at some point.

The use of illegal drugs is certainly present among students, and testing
does provide some measure of restricting such usage, so we do not condemn
the practice.

Detection of illegal drug use by students is a matter of public health and
safety, and strong measures must be taken to prevent such health- and even
life-endangering activities.

That said, we urge the School Board to act sensibly, especially given its
poor financial condition.

We can agree with those who say drug testing of students who participate in
after-school activities cannot hurt; we also agree with those who are
concerned about the considerable expense of drug testing.

We also are not so sure that students who participate in after-school
activities are the most logical target of drug testing.