SAN LUIS COASTAL TO REVIEW RANDOM DRUG-SEARCH PLANS

The San Luis Coastal school board is expected Tuesday to discuss two
separate proposals to perform random searches using drug-sniffing
dogs on campus and random testing for students participating in all
extracurricular activities.

The proposals, if approved, would make San Luis Coastal the fourth
school district in the county to test students for drugs.

But it would be the largest district to do so. Paso Robles, Shandon
and Templeton schools drug-test athletes before allowing
participation in sports.

Board member Kathryn Eisendrath-Rogers said she wanted the district
to look into the idea because she was alarmed at the numbers of San
Luis Coastal students who reported using drugs and alcohol.

Statistics on substance abuse were accumulated in fall 2007 as part
of the California Healthy Kids Survey. The annual survey asks fifth,
seventh, ninth and 11th graders about their own, their parents' and
their friends' experiences with alcohol, tobacco, illegal drugs and
sex, as well as safety at school and other lifestyle issues.

About 73 percent of the district's high school freshmen and 62
percent of juniors participated in the survey, according to district
Student Services Director Jackie Kirk-Martinez. Parents must approve
student participation.

Of the freshmen, 18 percent reported using marijuana at least once
and 11 percent said they had used it in the 30 days prior to the
survey, Kirk- Martinez said.

Of the high school juniors, 42 percent reporting using marijuana at
least once and 24 percent reported using the drug in the prior 30 days.

The proposals could raise legal issues. Because drug searches could
lead to lawsuits from students and their families, district officials
suggest that the school board have its legal counsel review any
proposed policies before they are implemented.

The proposed use of drug-sniffing dogs on school property apparently
presents more legal obstacles than random testing, officials said.

The district's staff report to the board on the issue notes that the
state Attorney General's Office ruled against a similar proposal in
November 2000 that would have allowed school administrators to use
dogs to sniff students' personal belongings and then search their
possessions without their consent.

"The attorney general concluded that school administrators may not
implement such a policy," district Personnel Services Director Rick
Robinett wrote.

The American Civil Liberties Union also has threatened to sue school
districts that use drug-sniffing dogs on campuses. Such a policy
could be a Fourth Amendment search-and-seizure violation, according
to the organization.

The U. S. Supreme Court has found in a case involving a school
district that a drug problem must be severe before a search of any
type is warranted, according to San Luis Coastal officials.

But random drug testing for students in extracurricular activities
has been upheld in cases brought before the high court, according to
the district staff report to the board.

Testing in sports, and possibly other extracurricular activities, is
the option with seemingly fewer legal challenges.

Eisendrath-Rogers said that when she brought the issue before
district officials, she initially suggested only that student
athletes be tested on school campuses.

"Peers and other kids tend to look up to those students," she said.
"We already ask them to sign a contract (stating they won't use
drugs). We're not trying to create a police state here as much as to
help them avoid peer pressure."

The cost of any drug search program hasn't yet been determined.

But Eisendrath-Rogers said: "You can't put a dollar figure" on saving
a student from the downfalls of drug abuse.

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MEETING TUESDAY

The San Luis Coastal Unified School District board is set to discuss
two separate plans to perform random drug searches and drug testing
for extracurricular activities when it meets at 7 p. m. Tuesday at
Los Osos Middle School, 1555 El Moro Ave.