ACADEMY'S POLICY ON DRUG TESTING WILL BE WATCHED CLOSELY

A new policy establishing mandatory drug testing for all students, faculty
and administrators at Tuscaloosa Academy is a bold step for incoming
headmaster George Elder. Policies like this are becoming more popular among
private schools, offering benefits but also posing some dilemmas.

Clearly, as a private school, Tuscaloosa Academy can choose to implement
any legal policies it chooses. Drug testing, even mandatory drug testing,
has been held to be legal for employers, sports leagues, private schools
and other institutions where joining is voluntary.

Drug screening that uses hair to detect illicit drug use remains somewhat
controversial. The federal government still maintains that urine tests are
the "gold standard" for accuracy, but the Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration is reviewing a proposed change in rules that would
allow hair, saliva and sweat to be screened as a basis for government jobs.

Hair testing can check drug use over the previous 90 days, not just the
past few days that urine tests detect. Collecting samples of hair is also
easier and less embarrassing for students. It is more difficult to cheat on
the hair test, compared with urine testing.

If a student at Tuscaloosa Academy tests positive, Elder will meet
privately with the student and the parents. It is then up to the family to
address the issue, with counseling or whatever resources they think are
most effective. A second positive test will mean expulsion. Two strikes and
you're out. That may seem extreme, but if Tuscaloosa Academy is going to be
serious about the policy, it has to work that way.

Elder says that a blanket policy that leads quickly to/sexpulsion for
repeat offenders offers support for teens battling peer pressure. A student
at Tuscaloosa Academy can honestly tell their friends that he can't
experiment with drugs and get away with it.

Public school systems deal with a very different set of circumstances. For
better or worse, constitutional questions about warrantless searches apply
when the government is doing the searching.

Mandatory drug testing remains a controversial policy for schools. It may
work well for Tuscaloosa Academy, and other private schools in the area
will watch it closely.

It could also have unintended consequences, such as pushing students toward
illicit drugs that aren't on the list of tested substances. The untested
drugs may be more dangerous. Tests can be updated, but drug abusers have
shown they can be creative as well as reckless.

We hope the drug-screening policy of Tuscaloosa/sAcademy works as intended:
It allows students and parents to know their school is drug-free.