Northshore: Just say no to random drug testing

IF the Northshore School District has a compelling reason for forcing
highschool athletes to urinate on command, it was not made clear to dozens
of upset parents.

Those who testified at a special Monday night forum were overwhelmingly
opposed to the idea; indeed, many were deeply offended by the suggestion.

Listen to the parents.

This tempest in a specimen bottle is all the more curious because
Northshore is an excellent school district that successfully educates
children from Kenmore, Bothell and Woodinville.

For a district that is otherwise able to articulate high standards and
expectations on academics and discipline, this approach boils down to
policy formation by dubious polling and dueling anecdotes.

Apparently, the only reason drug testing is being discussed is because a
1995 Supreme Court ruling says the district could get away with it.

The original case involved a rural Oregon high school whose administrators
felt they had lost control of the student body, and that athletes were at
the heart of a pervasive drug culture. The court decided that student
athletes voluntarily surrender a measure of personal privacy and are exempt
from usual Fourth Amendment protections from unreasonable searches.

Northshore officials did not suggest drug use is out of control, although
no school is immune from isolated problems, and individual cases are indeed
heartbreaking. No one is suggesting athletes are an overriding source of
concern. No one is suggesting that Bothell and, say, Inglemoor high schools
have identical discipline issues or similar management styles. So why
consider a onesizefitsall approach to drug enforcement?

A parade of parents were concerned about an erosion of constitutional
freedoms, invasion of privacy, confidentiality of test results, the
singling out of athletes, the potential for testing all students in
extracurricular activities those students are known to be the least
likely to have academic and discipline problems the waste of taxpayer
dollars, the expense of drug testing for families, and the shattering of
trust between the district, parents and students.

If drug testing is about elevating role models in the school environment,
parents wondered, then why not test principals, administrators and teachers?

If Northshore is as good as its reputation, then a more thoughtful
approach is not only possible, but also expected.

Use drug tests when behavior and performance suggest a problem in young
lives. Teachers and coaches know their students. As Justice Sandra Day
O'Connor noted in her 1995 dissent, "a suspicionbased program would be
both effective and less intrusive."

Northshore, listen to your parents.