IS ST. VIATOR PASSING THE DRUG TEST?

With More Than Half of School Tested, Even President Admits It's Not Perfect

Four months after announcing its controversial decision to drug test
every student with a sample of hair, reality has hit at St. Viator
High School.

And for some students, reality bites.

"I had to have part of my leg shaved," said senior Rob
Smith.

Smith, who sports a close cropped hairstyle, didn't have long enough
hair on his head to clip for drug testing.

A sample, which must be several centimeters long and approximately the
diameter of a shoelace, is taken from each student's body and sent to
Psychemedics Corp. laboratories in California, where it is evaluated
for traces of marijuana, cocaine, opiates, amphetamines, PCP and ecstasy.

Buzz cut or long flowing locks, everyone is getting
tested.

"There have even been guys who have lost some armpit hair," said
freshman Cory Kay.

More than half of the Arlington Heights school's 1,000 students have
been tested since Aug. 27, according to the Rev. Mick Egan, president
of St. Viator. Those who refuse the test face the possibility of expulsion.

"So far, two students have tested positive for drug use," Egan said.
He declined to release the individuals' names, or the details of their
results.

If a student tests positive, Egan meets with the student individually
and calls their parents.

"We talk, and give them a sheet of resources of 10 treatment and
counseling centers in the Northwest suburban area," he said.

Viator does not pay for counseling or rehab, or a second drug
test.

Students who test positive are required to pay $45 to test again in 90
days.

"If they test positive again, they face the possibility of expulsion,"
he said.

By testing 50 to 60 students each day, the school is on par to have
completed testing of the entire student body by its mid-October benchmark.

It's also the school's Homecoming weekend.

Though 20 students will be tested at random each week for the rest of
the year, some members of the community are concerned that student
drug use will rise after months of model behavior.

"We gave them fair warning (about the upcoming test) last spring,"
guidance counselor Joe Majkowski said. "We believe there are a number
of students who curtailed their drug use over summer vacation."

Lauren Banaszak, a senior, thinks once the program's random testing
phase begins, some might take their chances with the roulette wheel.

"There were definitely some kids who didn't (do drugs) this summer
because they knew it would show up on their test. I do think though,
there are going to be some kids who will go back to using and take
their chances with the random testing," she said.

Or find a different way to get high.

Viator's hair test does not detect inhalants, prescription drug abuse,
steroids or alcohol, all of which, according to national and local
teen drug experts, are on the rise.

One in 10 high school seniors have taken Vicodin, according to a 2006
National Institute on Drug Abuse survey. Also last year, the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention released a survey that found 36.3
percent of ninth grade boys reported drinking in the past month, as
did 36.2 percent of girls.

Tom Nall, who teaches freshman and senior history classes, took an
informal survey of his students about the effects of the testing
program on the student body.

"I asked them if (this kind of test) would just make kids more
resourceful about what substance they could get away with using," Nall
said. "The general consensus was yes, it would."

Like his students, Nall has had some reservations about the
testing.

The $75,000 budgeted for the 2007-08 school year is "a lot of money,"
Nall said. "I wonder if this is an easy way out. Could we have
invested that in a worthwhile (substance abuse) education program instead?"

"We're attempting to scare these kids. They have a good reason for
saying 'No' while they're at Viator -- they won't want to get caught
by the administration. But when they're out on their own at the age of
18 -- maybe it'll work against them. They'll have spent years saying
'No' for the wrong reasons."

Egan admits that the program has its holes.

"We're not denying that other drug abuse is out there," the priest
said. "But we're trying our best to be proactive with the resources
that are available to us."

After all, suggests Majkowski, "We can't be taking urine samples every
day to find out if they've been drinking."

The school plans to make the program a permanent part of its academic
life.

"We're officially going to evaluate that at the end of the school
year," Egan said. "But so far, we've had a tremendous amount of
parental support."

After some initial balking, many Viator students have seemingly
accepted the drug testing with minimal grumbling.

"This is a pretty controlling place," Kay said as Banaszak expressed
agreement, and they noted dress code restrictions and behavioral
standards, including having to take a Breathalyzer test for alcohol at
school dances.

"The (drug tests) are along the same lines," he said.