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SCHOOL BOARD SEEKS DRUG TEST COMPROMISE

Father Says Policy Violated Son's Rights

LOCKNEY -- The Lockney Independent School District has revised its
mandatory drug testing policy in an effort to come to a compromise with a
father who sued the Panhandle district, saying the policy violated his
son's constitutional rights.

"Sometimes you implement a policy and look back at it and say this should
have been done this way," Lockney Superintendent Raymond Lusk said
Wednesday.

The revision is a change of course from a board decision in March. The
panel then decided not to act on a request from the American Civil
Liberties Union to eliminate or refine the policy.

"The purpose of this is to settle this (issue) because we have a lot more
important things to do as far as the educational process," the
superintendent said. "We want (our students) in school, not sitting in some
alternate discipline."

The policy originally required all students in the 6th through 12th grades
to submit to drug testing. Failure to agree to the testing resulted in the
same punishment as if a student had tested positive for drugs.

Changes approved July 13 now require testing of students in 7th through
12th grade and the removal from extracurricular activities of those who
refuse to be tested until they agree to participate.

About 85 percent of students in Lockney participate in extracurricular
activities, Lusk said. He said the district is committed to its policy, but
at the same time believes in compromise.

When the original policy was implemented in February, 12-year-old Brady
Tannahill was the sole holdout. His father, Larry, refused to sign the
consent form, saying it violated his son's right to privacy and that it
criminalized innocent children.

"I know everybody is wanting the best for their children and I want the
best for mine," Tannahill said at the time. "But I also feel like we are
being violated and dictated to. I've had a gut full of it and I'm going to
make a stand."

That stand resulted in Brady being placed in 21-day suspension from
extracurricular activities, at least three days' in-school suspension and
three sessions of substance abuse counseling, as required by the original
policy. It also required Brady to submit to a monthly drug test for a year
and stated that each time he refused, he would be considered a repeat
offender, and the punishment would get more strict.

The board agreed in March not to punish Brady until the lawsuit filed by
his father and the American Civil Liberties Union is settled.

School board attorney Donald Henslee doesn't anticipate the changes will
have any effect on the lawsuit.

The ACLU's national drug policy project attorney, Graham Boyd, said the
changes to the policy aren't a compromise. He said the policy still
violates students' rights and will soon violate those of Brady's younger
brother, Coby, as well.

"This doesn't change anything as far as the case because Brady Tannahill is
still subject to the drug testing policy, he is involved in extracurricular
activities and he hasn't consented to it," he said. "The case is still
alive as long as they insist on applying it to either of the Tannahills."

Lusk doesn't anticipate many in this farming community of 2,243 will be
pleased with the board's decision to change the policy. The board's first
meeting of the new school year is today, and Lusk said many aren't aware of
the changes.

In March, hundreds of Lockney citizens turned out to support the policy.
Many in attendance wore red and white T-shirts that said, "We asked for it.
LISD delivered it. We appreciate it."