CITIZEN INPUT SOUGHT ON SCHOOL DRUG TESTS

A Libertyville-Vernon Hills Area High School District 128 board
member on Monday said officials and the community should reconsider
whether students should be forced to submit to random drug tests.

While he didn't come out as a proponent of drug testing, board
member Dennis Ryan said he wants residents to tell administrators
and the board if they believe illegal drugs are a problem in the
district. He also wants to know if people favor random drug tests.

"I don't know how I'd vote," Ryan said during an early-evening
program and personnel committee meeting at Libertyville High. "I
want to hear all their input."

Antioch-Lake Villa High School District 117 is among the few
districts in Illinois that employs such tests. District 128
officials debated random drug testing several years ago but did not
enact a program, Superintendent David Clough said.

Monday's discussion arose during a review of proposed student
code-of-conduct changes. Board member Ellen Mauer, leader of the
program committee, suggested an exploratory committee form to
discuss the matter further.

Clough said drug testing is a worthy topic to revisit."

Not all the officials at the meeting were comfortable with the concept.

"At first blush, it's something that feels very invasive to me and
very negative," board member Judy Berliant said.

Berliant recommended the district hold public meetings about drug
abuse to first educate people about the issues before delving into a
debate over testing. Ryan disagreed.

"I don't care if people are educated or not," he said.

The committee made no formal decisions on the matter.

The full board is expected to debate and vote on the code-of-conduct
proposal at its May 22 meeting at Vernon Hills High.