ACLU SUES SCHOOLS OVER DRUG TESTS

18 students were tested at Easton High after report of party; 'They were
humiliated'; Lawyer says county
has right to act on off-campus activity

EASTON -- In what is thought to be the first legal challenge to a
school drug-testing policy in Maryland, the American Civil Liberties
Union has filed suit against Talbot County school officials, who in
January ordered 18 Easton High School students to provide urine
samples that were then tested in the school auditorium.

According to papers filed yesterday in U.S. District Court in
Baltimore, the students, ages 13 to 18, were told they would be
suspended and possibly expelled if they did not submit to the tests.
Parents who were called to the school say they were told to sign
consent forms or their children would be immediately suspended.

Detained and questioned in the school auditorium, some for as long as
four hours, students provided urine samples in specimen bottles that
were lined up on the auditorium stage and tested with throwaway kits
similar to those used for home pregnancy tests.

"It's among the most outrageous cases I'm aware of nationally," said
Andrew M. Dansicker, an attorney with the Baltimore firm of Venable,
Baetjer and Howard, who with the ACLU is representing parents and
students. "I've talked to some of the students. They were humiliated
and embarrassed, and they still are."

Named in the lawsuit filed on behalf of four students and the newly
formed Talbot County Advocates for Student and Parental Rights, were
the

Talbot school board, Superintendent J. Sam Meek, Easton High Principal
Timothy Thurber, pupil services coordinator Beth Nobbs and Sarah
Smith, a county health department employee who conducted the tests.

Yesterday, Meek said school officials are reviewing the case, but that
he could not comment on legal issues.

Separated, questioned

The incident began Jan. 18 when the students were called from morning
classes and told to assemble in the auditorium. After being separated
and questioned individually, the teens were told they would be tested
for drugs.

A school security officer waited outside a restroom stall as boys
provided urine samples.

A female guidance counselor stood by in a one-toilet restroom as girls
did the same, according to the suit.

Parents who were called and told to report to the school were
incredulous that officials made no effort to keep the test results
confidential.

"They lined up the specimen bottles on the stage, put in the stick in
each one to see if it changed color and called out each kid's name,"
said Denise Nolan, whose daughter, 15-year-old Jamie, was among those
tested.

'I couldn't believe it'

"I was standing there filling out the consent forms and they're
calling out the name of each student and the result of the test. I
couldn't believe it. It was like dealing with the Gestapo," she said.

According to court documents, school officials were told by a student
that a group of teen-agers had attended a private party in nearby
Oxford two days earlier where drugs and alcohol were used. Students
who were identified as partygoers were called from classes and told to
go to the auditorium.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs say none of the tests produced a firm
positive result, although some initially suggested a positive result.

One student whose test showed a positive result was escorted from the
grounds by school officials in full view of fellow students. He was
later reinstated after a private drug test arranged by his parents
showed the first test had been false, said Dansicker.

Lynn Ewing, president of the parent group whose 18-year-old son was
among those called to the auditorium, said the teen-ager, who is not
part of the lawsuit, agreed to be tested despite her objections.

"He said he wanted to be tested because if he didn't, everyone would
think he had done something wrong," Ewing said. "He was put in a
position where he had to justify his innocence. Bizarre is the only
word to describe it."

Parents say the action violates state law, which allows local school
officials to take disciplinary action against students caught with
alcohol or drugs on school property.

Baltimore attorney Edmund O'Meally, who represents the Talbot school
system, mentioned numerous examples of students who have been
disciplined for off-campus violations of drug and alcohol policy.
Obvious examples are high school athletes who are kicked off sports
teams for using drugs or alcohol, he said.

Meeting with officials

"At this stage, I really know little more than what's contained in the
suit, but we will be meeting this week with school officials,"
O'Meally said. "Talbot County is not doing any drug testing on
students until this is sorted out. But the Maryland State Board of
Education has ruled that schools can take action against students for
off-campus activities."

Parents say they were also disturbed by an incident at Easton High in
December when school officials searched the locker of a student
suspected of drug use. No drugs were discovered, but officials read a
diary found in the locker and ordered students whose names were
mentioned to submit to drug tests.

"I don't want this to be detrimental to my daughter," said Nolan. "I
felt this was something we had to do. There's just no concept of civil
rights."