RANDOM DRUGS TESTS AT ELITE COLLEGE

The exclusive private school Geelong Grammar is to introduce random
drug tests for students suspected of using illicit drugs.

In what is believed to be a first for any Australian school, students
caught using drugs or thought to be using drugs at the Victorian
co-educational boarding college will be subjected to random urine
tests and room searches as part of a new "second chance" drug policy.

Students caught trafficking in drugs still face automatic expulsion,
but those who admit to using drugs or who are caught using drugs for
the first time will be placed on a program of counselling, regular
drug screening and rehabilitation.

The policy - developed in consultation with parents, students,
teachers, Victoria Police and the medical community - gives the
school's principal, Mr Lister Hannah, the power to request the urine
tests. Previously, Geelong Grammar students found to be using drugs
were automatically expelled.

School policies attracted controversy earlier this year when nine
students from Sydney's Pymble Ladies College were expelled for smoking
marijuana.

The action was supported by the Prime Minister, Mr Howard, who called
on schools to adopt a "black and white" attitude and expel students
caught taking drugs. But many educators condemned automatic expulsion
as inappropriate and offensive.

Mr Hannah said the school's drug-free policy was an acknowledgment
that its former "head in the sand" approach had not worked because it
failed to differentiate among students caught supplying drugs, those
who were repeat users and first-time users.

"It did little to rehabilitate students who were at risk of becoming
chronic users and certainly did nothing to involve the school in the
process," he said. "It was also seen to punish truthfulness."

Mr Hannah said the school had trialled the urine tests at its senior
year 10, 11 and 12 Corio campus. He confirmed he had expelled two
students for drug use in the past three years.

The executive director of the Association of Independent Schools of
NSW, Mr Terry Chapman, said he was surprised by the news and was
unaware of any proposals to test students for illegal drugs in NSW.