STUDENT PRIVACY VS. SAFETY

The Supreme Court will decide whether schools can give drug tests to
students in extracurricular activities. Southern Tier administrators and
students wonder whether the policy is constitutional. In addition to
getting ready for graduation and college and other stresses of senior year,
Melissa Heald keeps busy in the Union-Endicott High School marching band
and winter guard. She also plays the flute and dances.

"This year I am a drum major," said the 17-year-old, who practices several
afternoons and evenings a week for her after-school activities.

But she would give it all up, she said, if she knew there were a chance she
could be required to undergo drug testing to participate in those activities.

"I wouldn't do the things that I do if I knew there was a chance of being
tested," Heald said. "Not because I have something to hide, but just
because it would be so humiliating."

In a landmark 1995 ruling, the Supreme Court said public schools could test
athletes for drugs. This week, the court heard Board of Education of
Independent School District No. 92 of Pottawatomie County v. Lindsey Earls,
a case that could extend schools' rights to administer drug tests to any
student who participates in after-school activities. The case pits
students' safety against the Fourth Amendment's guarantee against
unreasonable searches. A decision is expected by July.

For many parents and educators, children's safety overshadows concerns for
privacy rights.

"Drug usage is a growing problem within our school communities," said
Sandra H. Russo, president of the school board in the Susquehanna Valley
Central School District, where the topic of drug tests for athletes was
hotly debated in 2001.

"Reflecting on the risks and dangers associated with drug use, our board
had felt we had a responsibility to address this problem. The drug-testing
policy was our attempt to do something we thought was proactive and would
have a positive impact in deterring student drug use."

With majority support, the board passed a drug-testing policy that would
have cost the district between $8,000 and $10,000 a year. It required
athletes to take a $17 urine test for the presence of illegal substances
before the start of each season. After it met with community opposition,
the policy was abandoned.

In making their decision to put such a policy in place, Susquehanna Valley
school board members had considered the responses of a 1999 survey that
indicated that 19 percent of student athletes in Broome County had used
marijuana and 10 percent had used it a few times a year or more.

Russo said that while she could not speak for the school board, she has no
interest in revisiting the issue again now, should the Supreme Court rule
that testing students in after-school activities is constitutional.

A Climate of Fear

Educators and parents in many districts say they are concerned that
mandatory random drug testing would create a climate of distrust and could
discourage students who may not wish to submit to urine tests from
participating in activities they enjoy.

Paula Nickerson, coordinator of pupil services at Union-Endicott High
School, said her daughter had been subjected to a random test at a Florida
college where she is on an athletic scholarship.

"She was hauled out of bed one morning to take a urine test in front of
someone," Nickerson said. "She said it was very embarrassing."

Nickerson said she understands colleges that give generous scholarships to
athletes -- her daughter is on a soccer scholarship -- may have the right
to make sure their athletes are not using illegal substances. But
administering such tests in public schools, she said, is entirely
different. There, she said, it would be a clear infringement of privacy rights.

"To do this to non-athletes, band members and the debate team would be
ludicrous," Nickerson said.

"I don't like the idea that a school can have that much power over your
kids," said Linda Glajch, an Endicott parent. "It is too invasive and lacks
cause or suspicion."

Glajch said she would not want her high school-age daughter, who plays
sports and participates in other activities in school, to "go to school
every day thinking, 'Today they might test me.'"

The Problems with Tests

Others question the efficacy of such policies. "When I heard about this on
Court TV, I had mixed feelings," said Diane Wheeler, principal of Chenango
Forks High School. "I wasn't at all sure it would be a good thing for our
school."

Wheeler said she believes her school already has strong programs in place
to address student drug use, like Students Against Destructive Decisions,
or SADD.

Furthermore, the school already takes a hard-line approach to the problem
of drugs, running what Wheeler calls "a tight ship."

"We are not narcs or vigilantes, but if we get a tip we will check a
locker," Wheeler said.

Establishing a drug-testing policy could be a costly, complicated and
time-consuming process.

"I would certainly not make a unilateral decision to endorse or implement
this in my district," Wheeler said. "It would take a committee of parents,
students, athletic directors, guidance counselors and teachers. It is quite
an undertaking to get anything like that on board and then getting the
board of education's approval, too."

Eric Mihelc, 17, a Union-Endicott junior who plays baseball and football
and has never been tested for drugs, said a drug-testing policy would
discourage students who might benefit from after-school activities from
getting involved.

"A student might be using drugs and going out for a sport could help them,"
Mihelc said. "This would deter them from helping themselves."

Right now, Mihelc said, it is up to coaches and advisers to choose students
responsibly for teams and organizations. "They should know the players," he
said. "They should decide what type of organizations and teams will
represent the school."

That system works, Mihelc said. "I don't think random drug testing would."

[PHOTO CAPTION]

Melissa Heald, 17, a senior at Union-Endicott High School, practices flag
movements while at Winterguard practice at Ann G. McGuinness Intermediate
School. Heald said she would drop out of after-school activities rather
than submit to drug testing, which would be "humiliating."