M'VILLE SCHOOLS' RANDOM DRUG TEST MIRRORS PROGRAM USED IN MUNSTER

MERRILLVILLE -- To test or not to test is no longer the question.
Merrillville Community School Corp. administrators were loud and clear
regarding that issue at Monday's School Board meeting.

They're testing.

When the Merrillville School Board unanimously voted Monday to implement
random drug testing, for students in seventh through 12th grades who
participate in extracurricular activities or drive to school, it put the
school district in rare company.

Munster High School had been the only Lake County school to administer
random drug test to students in extracurricular activities.

Merrillville administrators had worked to implement a policy during the
2002-03 school year, but the issue was a hot-button topic in the courts at
the time.

Now that the courts have given their blessing for suspicionless testing,
Merrillville decided to take the plunge.

"The major intent here is, we believe peer pressure is the biggest obstacle
for kids to overcome," School Superintendent Anthony Lux said. "This gives
kids an out to say, 'Look, I can't afford to take a chance.' "

That's exactly the stance Munster High School officials took. The school
implemented random drug testing in the late 1990s, although it stopped the
testing while the issue was resolved in the courts. The school has since
reinstated the program.

"Obviously, you're going to have individuals who may not be in favor of
this type of test," Munster High School Principal Steve Tripenfeldas said.
"But overwhelmingly, we have a lot who are."

At Munster, about 900 of its 1,500 students are in the drug-testing pool.
Once a student signs the school's pledge to stay drug- and alcohol-free, he
or stays there until he graduates.

"You always get those kids who want to stick up for what they believe in,"
Munster High School Assistant Principal Al Gandolfi said. "But our policy
is simple, and I explain it to them. I'm not saying you have to agree with
it, but if you want to participate, it's part of the program."

Merrillville, which already tests students who are suspected to be under
the influence of alcohol or drugs, is putting together the specifics of the
program. For now, school officials expect the policy to include all
students in extracurricular activities, those who drive to school and those
who are volunteered for the program by their parents.

Lux said a plan will be presented to the School Board in November, to be
implemented sometime in the spring semester.

He said more than half the students at Merrillville High School -- more
than 1,000 individuals -- would be subject to the testing.

At Munster, the school uses the Lansing, Ill.-based Controlled Substance
Management. Gandolfi said the company handles all the testing and even
pulls the random student identification numbers for the testing.

Those numbers, about five a week, are given to Gandolfi, who calls those
students out of class to provide a urine sample.

The test costs $35 and detects 10 types of drugs, five more than the
standard test. Along with marijuana and cocaine, Gandolfi has the company
test for additional drugs police say are popular among local teenagers.

If a test comes back positive, it's run through another test and then
tested by a medical review officer, Tripenfeldas said.

Students who test positive aren't suspended from school. They're
disciplined in regard to their extracurricular activities and then assisted
with finding counseling before they can return to extracurricular activities.

Lux said the Merrillville schools hope to follow a similar pattern.

"This is not an academically punitive policy," Lux said. "Confidentiality
will be maintained. And the key is the parents will be notified."