RANDOM SCHOOL DRUG TESTS PUSHED

Bush Officials Argue In Court To Expand Student Screening

WASHINGTON - If Dan Nolan had his way, students at all five high schools in
Manatee County would be subjected regularly to random urine tests for
illegal drugs - not just athletes at Manatee High School in Bradenton.

``As I sit here, I've got three expulsion hearings on my desk - all three
involving marijuana,'' Nolan, superintendent of the county's school system,
said Monday. ``If more random testing did something to deter this, it would
be very helpful.''

In Polk County, the school district's athletics director, Don Bridges, says
he feels the same way. Routine Monday morning urine tests of student
athletes at George Jenkins High School in Lakeland ``worked so well,'' he
said, ``we'd love to do it at all 13 high schools.''

What stopped most of the nation's public school systems until now is the
courts. Rulings effectively have encouraged random testing only of students
involved in sports, and at schools that could demonstrate a problem with
heavy drug use.

Now, that could change.

Today, the Bush administration will argue to the U.S. Supreme Court for a
broad expansion of the power of schools to combat illegal drugs by randomly
screening students in most extracurricular activities - even cheerleading,
chess, farming contests and debate societies.

If the court agrees, schools could test participants in any competitive
activity regularly. Tests could be conducted at schools where relatively
few students are believed to be using illegal substances.

``Leave school administrators flexibility to adopt common sense, drug
deterrence measures,'' Paul D. Clement, President Bush's deputy solicitor
general, will argue before the nine justices this morning, according to a
brief filed with the court.

``That'd be great,'' said David Lauer, who, as principal of Jenkins High
School in 1996, established the Monday screenings. The names of 10 athletes
were generated randomly by a school computer, then they were summoned for
urinalysis.

``As educators, it's part of our responsibility,'' said Lauer, the Polk
County system's assistant administrator for human resources. ``Also, if
students know they may be tested, it gives them a way to save face: They
can say to the rest of the group, `Look, I'm an athlete, and I'm not going
to risk it.' ''

Hundreds, perhaps thousands of school districts are watching the case closely.

The Alexandria, Va.-based Drug and Alcohol Testing Industry Association
estimates that 500 of the nation's 15,000 school districts engage in any
kind of random screening. ``Many, many more will consider it'' if the court
agrees with expanding the practice, predicted Julie Underwood, general
counsel of the National School Boards Association.

A Nationwide Problem

Studies have shown that illegal drug use is still a big problem among
middle school and high school students.

Nationally, more than half of all high school students say they have used
an illicit drug, according to a University of Michigan study.

In a recent Polk County survey, nearly one-fourth of all students said they
had used marijuana during the previous 30 days, and another 19 percent say
they used cocaine, LSD, PCP or Xanax, intended to be a prescription drug.
Students testing positive must attend a 10-day program of addiction
education and assessment.

``For us, drug tests are a really effective tool,'' said Gary Loar,
prevention specialist for the program, at the Mark Wilcox Center in Winter
Haven.

What About Parents, Privacy?

Members of Hillsborough County's school board considered random drug tests
several years ago, but focused instead on other priorities. Also, the board
was uncertain what action to take with students testing positive.

Board member Candy Olson recalls another issue, as well. ``Who's really
responsible for what kids do outside of school time? That's more the
responsibility of parents than the schools.''

Counters Manatee superintendent Nolan: ``We have a lot of parents who don't
take that responsibility, frankly.''

Adds Herb Tschappat, his director of secondary education: ``When you're
dealing with the safety and health of students, that's got to be the prime
concern.''

The high schools in Bradenton and Lakeland were encouraged after a 1995
ruling by the Supreme Court that supported an Oregon school district's
random selection of athletes for drug tests.

In that case, a majority of the justices decided the district's concern
over heavy drug use and the possibility of injury in athletic competition
outweighed the students' Fourth Amendment expectations of privacy.

Besides, the court noted, student athletes already give up privacy by
agreeing to ``communal undress'' - undressing in locker rooms.

Today's case stems from the drug testing of a student, Lindsay Earls, three
years ago.

She was a member of the choir and marching band at her small high school in
rural Tecumseh, Okla.

Only her grades were high; she was drug free.

But the sophomore was angry. She had been forced to urinate into a cup
while a teacher listened from the other side of the bathroom stall.

She sued, arguing the testing had violated constitutional protection
against unreasonable searches and seizures.

Drug tests ``may be effective in the U.S. Navy, but for kids it's
harmful,'' said Earls' lawyer, Graham Boyd of the American Civil Liberties
Union. ``If the court says you can do this, then what about the other 24
million students in America?''

Judges Urging Restraint

Lower courts, while agreeing to drug tests in certain circumstances, have
warned against excessive use of drug screenings.

Two years ago, when one school system mandated urinalysis for all students
driving to school, a federal appellate court cautioned against making
urinalysis a condition for getting an education.

``The case has yet to be made,'' stated the Seventh Court of Appeals,
``that a urine sample can be the `tuition' for a public school.''