Lake Stevens

MANY AT SCHOOL SUPPORT DRUG TESTS

Rumors about high levels of drug use at Lake Stevens High School
reached football captain Robert Castaneda over the past few years in
the form of a question: Is it true that Lake Stevens is a drug school?

Last week, the Lake Stevens School Board voted unanimously to
implement a random drug-testing program for student athletes and
those in other after-school activities, becoming the first Snohomish
County district to do so.

"I think it's a good idea," said Castaneda, a senior, who was
preparing for the upcoming football season the old-fashioned way --
by lifting weights.

"Now we'll know that no one is trying to cheat to win."

District officials estimate that about 600 students out of 2,200 at
the high school will be subject to the urinalysis tests that will
start in September. In addition to athletes, the testing program will
include students in band, cheerleading, dance, student government and
other activities sanctioned by the Washington Interscholastic
Activities Association.

Some details of the testing remain undecided, including how long
students who test positive will be suspended from school. It likely
will be between 14 days and one month, said Superintendent Dave Burgess.

Technicians from a Seattle lab will administer the tests in a secured
faculty bathroom. Students will provide the sample in the privacy of
a bathroom stall. The results will be shared only with a school
drug-and-alcohol counselor, an designated administrator and a
student's parents.

Students who test positive will be referred for a professional drug
assessment and will have to meet the conditions of treatment to
return to their activity. A follow-up test will be required within a
month. Tests won't screen for alcohol.

Students at Lake Stevens High School have largely supported the
testing program, first proposed in May. ASB President Tam To said
drug use is a problem at the school and needs to be addressed.

"We're taking the initiative. It's going to change the whole
environment of our school," she said.

Lake Stevens administrators took note when the state's Healthy Youth
Survey in 2004 showed a jump in illegal drug use by high-school
students. Students surveyed also said they thought access to drugs
was easy and that the community didn't care.

The district estimates that the testing program will cost about
$10,000 per year. A federal Safe and Drug Free School Grant from the
U.S. Department of Education will cover the first year's costs, and
the district will pursue additional grants, said spokeswoman Arlene Hulten.

The Bush administration has awarded about $9.8 million to school
districts and drug-abuse-prevention agencies to administer drug
tests, the Education Department says.

But the effectiveness and legality of student drug testing are still
debated. The state's branch of the American Civil Liberties Union has
challenged testing programs in Kittitas and Wahkiakum counties,
saying they violate privacy guarantees in the state constitution.

But a Wahkiakum Superior Court judge in June ruled in favor of the
school district, saying the district has the authority and
responsibility to protect the health and safety of students. The ACLU
has asked the state Supreme Court to review the decision.