SCHOOL DISTRICTS SUSPEND DRUG TESTS AFTER COURT RULING

School districts across Indiana are suspending random drug tests
because of a court ruling that said the screenings violate privacy
provisions of the state constitution.

The Indiana School Boards Association advised its 290 member school
corporations to stop any random drug testing immediately because of
Monday's unanimous ruling by the Indiana Court of Appeals.

"Otherwise, these schools would be in deliberate defiance of the Court
of Appeals," said David Emmert, general counsel for the School Boards
Association. "That's indefensible."

Many school corporations are following the advice. Kokomo-Center
Schools decided Wednesday to suspend all drug testing indefinitely.

The state Court of Appeals ruled schools cannot require students to
submit to random drug tests as a condition for driving to school,
playing sports or joining a club. Instead, a school must rely on
probable cause, the ruling said.

The decision came in response to an Indiana Civil Liberties Union
lawsuit against Northwestern School Corp. near Kokomo. Northwestern
Superintendent Ryan Snoddy said Tuesday that school officials had not
decided whether to appeal the ruling.

Many districts plan to have their attorneys study the ruling.

School officials say they are disappointed to have lost a valuable
drug-prevention tool.

Emmert said about one-fourth of the state's districts have random drug
testing policies in place.

Last school year, the first year of random drug tests at Duneland's
Chesterton High School, five of the 188 students tested came back
positive for marijuana, Superintendent Stephen Hewlett said. Those five
were referred to the school's Positive Life Program.

"We thought that court rulings throughout the country were giving
schools the tools to make everyone aware of the dangers of drug use,"
Hewlett said.

In the Elkhart area, no tests on students involved in athletics and
other extracurricular activities are expected at Elkhart Central,
Elkhart Memorial, Concord, Goshen, Northridge or NorthWood high schools
or Goshen or NorthWood middle schools.

"This caught us by surprise," said Goshen Superintendent Kent Evans.

Kokomo-Center's policy, implemented in 1996, was based on a policy
from an Oregon school district that also was challenged in court. That
policy randomly tests athletes using the argument that the health and
safety of athletes who use drugs could be jeopardized. The U.S. Supreme
Court ultimately upheld the policy.

Kokomo-Center's policy applies to students, grades 8 through 12, who
participate in athletics or drivers education, or who drive to school
or leave the school campus for lunch. Students who take part in
activities where safety is not a concern, such as social or academic
clubs, are not subjected to testing.

Dave Barnes, spokesman for Kokomo-Center, announced Wednesday that the
policy would be suspended and reviewed.