RANDOM SCHOOL DRUG TESTING ADVOCATES LOSE GROUND

The future of random drug testing of students in four local school districts
is uncertain due to a decision by the Indiana Court of Appeals.

Local school districts have been advised by the state's school board
association not to conduct any random drug testing because the Indiana Court
of Appeals has decided the drug-testing policy in Kokomo is
unconstitutional.

About one-fourth of the state's districts have random drug testing policies
in place, according to David Emmert, attorney for the Indiana School Boards
Association.

Locally, Duneland, Munster and North Newton districts randomly test students
involved in athletics and extra-curricular activities. Lake Central planned
to begin a similar testing program this year. It would also have included
students who drive to school.

The Kokomo school district has 30 days to appeal the ruling to the Indiana
Supreme Court.

If the state Supreme Court upholds the appellate court's decision, Duneland
will drop its policy, School Board President Mike Griffin said.

"Obviously, we will abide by the law. We'll have to. If the Supreme Court
states that it is unconstitutional, then we will abide by the law and rely
more heavily on our intervention programs," Griffin said.

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

Munster High School Principal R. Michael O'Connor said the school will halt
all random testing until it gets a legal opinion from the school district's
attorney.

The school in 1990 first required students involved in sports and all other
extracurricular activities to consent to random drug testing. The policy was
put on hold for several years but was re-activated when the U.S. Supreme
Court in 1995 ruled that a school district can impose the tests as an
extension of its role as guardian and tutor of students.

"We probably test seven kids a week out of our random drug testing pool.
Only a couple a year turn out to be positive," O'Connor said.

The test's value, he said, is that it gives students a way out of succumbing
to peer pressure.

"Those who do it firmly believe it works," Emmert concurred in defense of
the drug testing.

He said a school superintendent from Blackford County near Fort Wayne
suggested districts that support drug testing establish a defense fund to
assist Kokomo in the appeal to the state Supreme Court.

Reaction to the decision was mixed Tuesday among parents and students at
Munster High School,

Diane Gleason, the mother of a high school sophomore, said she supports the
court ruling.

"If there's a strong suspicion or a child is acting peculiar then I think
the school should be able to conduct drug tests. But just to go after
someone is wrong," she said.

Her 15-year-old daughter, Kristen, agreed. "I don't like the random testing.
If, let's say, an athlete is doing really good and then starts doing bad,
then OK. But if nothing is happening, leave them alone," she said.

Virginia Schmidt, the mother of twin boys entering their sophomore year at
Munster, thinks the court's decision is a mistake.

"Just because this is an upscale community, it doesn't mean kids don't get
involved in drugs. Maybe, because they have more money, they might be even
more inclined to do drugs," Schmidt said.

High school senior Sarah Sands thinks random drug tests trample on personal
privacy rights.

"The court decision is a good one especially if you're only involved in
something like the French Club," the 17-year-old student said.

In its ruling, the state's appellate court concluded the Indiana
constitution provides greater protections against privacy invasions than
federal law. Appellate Court Judge Nancy Vaidik of Valparaiso concurred with
the decision.