STUDENTS, TEACHERS FIND DRUG TESTING ISSUE
MORE DIFFICULT THAN IT FIRST APPEARS

TALLAHASSEE - Students and teachers, with an assist from the Florida
Supreme Court, found developing a school drug testing policy was not
as easy as it first seemed during a town hall meeting shown Tuesday in
classrooms across the state via television and the Internet.

It was a lesson not confined to drug testing, said 11th Circuit Chief
Judge Joseph P. Farina, who moderated the meeting of about 30 Florida
teachers and 60 students from three Tallahassee high schools.

"The whole dynamic of discussion and considering the constitutional
principles, and perhaps of developing a policy, could be used for any
other issues," Farina said.

The Miami judge added that the meeting in the Supreme Court chambers
was "not an end but a means to an end of discussion, interaction and
developing a policy."

It was part of the fourth annual Justice Teaching Institute sponsored
by the Supreme Court. Each year, 25 teachers come to Tallahassee for
legal education training.

The meeting began with a survey. The results included majorities of
teachers and students agreeing that students accused of violating drug
policies should get free lawyers when their cases are heard and that
administrators be required to prove a violation beyond a reasonable
doubt before a student can be expelled.

They then split into smaller groups to propose specific policies that
often differed from the poll results.

"It may be a different response when sitting together in a group and
you then start talking about the pluses and minuses of your particular
opinion, and then people are able to change their mind," Farina said.
"I think we saw that dynamic today."

Only one group said proof should be beyond a reasonable doubt, the
same standard as in criminal trials. Three groups proposed standards
less favorable to the accused such as "clear and convincing evidence."
One group even proposed shifting the burden of proof to the accused
student.

Only one group proposed free lawyers. Two groups suggested no lawyers
be allowed and two proposed that they be permitted only if paid for by
the students' families.

The groups, however, were fairly consistent with another survey result
that favored treating all students alike instead of drug testing just
athletes and students who participate in other extracurricular
activities, policies common in many school districts.

"They are going after the wrong party," said Jeffrey Arnott, a coach
at St. Cloud High School. He said he has found few drug users playing
sports.

Drug testing was selected as the topic because it is a real-world
problem.

"There are school boards and teachers and students wrestling with this
issue throughout the state, and today's discussion helped bring out a
number of points that need to be considered," Farina said. "Often
times, it just isn't as easy to be coming up with policies that we
think at first blush are very simple."