PENN MANOR HOLDS FINAL AIRING OF ITS NEW DRUG-TESTING POLICY

LANCASTER COUNTY, PA - Penn Manor school board heard public comment,
some of it critical, on its drug-screening policy Tuesday night.

About 40 people attended the district's third and final reading of
the new policy in Manor Middle School. The policy was enacted in July
and will be in effect when the school year begins in a few weeks.

"You are usurping our parental rights," one mother said. She said the
district's job is to "educate our children and uphold the law of the
land" and not to "trample our civil rights."

She suggested all teachers, administrators and employees of the
school district also should be subject to random testing.

Under the policy, students at both middle schools and the high school
will be entered into a pool to be selected for random, unannounced
drug testing.

Testing for middle school students will be voluntary, based on a
signed request by a parent or the student. High school participation
is mandatory for any student participating in extracurricular or
cocurricular activities as well as any student requesting a parking permit.

Superintendent Donald Stewart and Ellen Pollock, administrative
assistant for curriculum, led a PowerPoint presentation highlighting
key areas of the policy, which has changed only slightly since June.

Stewart said over the years many parents have asked him, "Can you
test my child?" But the law doesn't allow a school to do that. Under
the policy, he said, Penn Manor will have a mechanism that "gives
parents and kids a good, valid reason to stay away from drugs."

Another district parent at Tuesday's meeting discussed case law in
which one Pennsylvania school district was found to have violated
Constitutional rights by using a drug-screening policy.

In reply, Pollock and other members of the committee said they have
reviewed that and other cases, and state courts have upheld similar
programs in many districts if there is a clear need.

Stewart said a committee was formed last spring to address drug use
in the district. The committee consisted of parents, students, school
board members, the athletic director, coaches, teachers, the school
nurse and other school officials.

Pollock said drug and alcohol violations have increased in the
district, especially in the 2004-05 school year. The committee is
aware of at least one student death from drug use, she said, and "if
we can save one student, then we have more than done our job."

The district has entered into a contract with Lancaster General
Hospital, which Stewart said has "an outstanding reputation," to do
the testing.

Dr. Alan Hay, the medical review officer from the hospital, was at
the meeting to answer specific questions about the methods of
testing. The urine sample testing will seek a number of controlled
substances, but not alcohol.

Stewart said a negative test result would be known almost
immediately, and a letter would be sent home to the parents notifying
them their child had been tested and the test was negative.

If there is a non-negative result, the sample would be sealed with
evidence tape and immediately shipped to Quest Diagnostics for a
confirmatory test, which Hay said is even more precise.

In response to one parent who suggested kids who use drugs know how
to beat the system, Hay said he has no experience with "false negatives."

The tests are now so precise, Hay said, substances such as poppy
seeds, Sudafed and ibuprofen will not cause a positive test.

Nevertheless, the policy states a parent may request a third test,
but the parents would have to pay $65.

Depending on the number of students in the voluntary program, Stewart
estimates 900 to 1,100 students will be in the pool.

A confirmed positive test would result in a 40-day suspension from
the student's activity or privilege, with an opportunity for
reduction to 20 days for participating in the student assistance
program. Parents would be notified, but there would be no police notification.

Stewart said the drug-screening policy does not replace other drug
and alcohol policies within the district, such as those prohibiting
possession of illegal drugs.

Under the policy, students at both middle schools and the high school
will be entered into a pool to be selected for random, unannounced
drug testing.