HEALEY PROPOSES DRUG TESTS AT SCHOOLS

Exams Would Require Parental Approval

Massachusetts parents could tell high schools to test their children for
drugs under a plan that Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey unveiled at the
State House yesterday.

The proposed drug testing, which the Legislature would have to approve as
part of a $9.1 million antidrug package, goes further than the testing some
Massachusetts schools have used at proms and other after-school events.

Under Healey's plan, students would be tested during the regular school
day, provided their parents had given permission for them to be tested.

As long as a school system's superintendent or mayor made the request, a
high school could participate in the state-funded drug-testing program.
Healey also wants the state to create two "sobriety high schools," one in
Boston and one in Springfield for 50 to 100 students each from surrounding
towns. The schools would serve recovering drug addicts. Healey said the
intent of the antidrug initiatives was to help students struggling with
drug and alcohol addiction rather than punish them. Results of the drug
tests in schools will be reported to the children's parents and schools --
not police, she said.

"There is nothing punitive about the drug testing that is proposed.

There would be no prosecution of any children found to be using drugs,"
Healey said in a telephone interview.

The Bay State's teen substance abuse rate is among the highest in the
country and teens are experimenting with drugs at an average age of 13, she
said. Healey's drug-testing plan, which a national education group said was
rare because parents would be asked to grant their permission, drew support
yesterday from a key lawmaker, school superintendents, and several parents.

The supporters said it would help parents and school officials better deal
with drug abuse among teens.

But students gave the testing a mixed review, with some saying they thought
it would violate their civil rights.

The US Supreme Court has ruled that schools may require students who
participate in extracurricular activities to pass drug tests, regardless of
whether there is just cause to suspect the students of drug use. But
Healey's suggestion to test during normal school hours could be subjected
to legal challenge. Healey said she believed the parental permission aspect
of the program would shield it from a legal challenge.

The state would pay about $20,000 per school for the testing; the cost of
the program would depend on how many communities decided to participate. As
a part of Healey's plan to prevent and curtail teen substance abuse, cities
and towns would also receive about $80,000 per school for substance abuse
counseling. The state's antidrug package, if approved, would bring in $14.5
million in federal grants, Healey said. An ACLU attorney said yesterday
that the Healey plan raises "a lot of questions" about its legality.

Parents can volunteer their children to be tested, but the students aren't
the ones volunteering, the attorney noted. "The ACLU cares just as much
about adolescent substance abuse as anyone else, but we think you have to
develop approaches that work and respect kids' rights," said Sarah Wunsch,
a staff attorney at the Massachusetts ACLU. Janellie Duren, a Madison Park
High School freshman, said she sees the policy as an invasion of privacy.

"It's a bad idea -- there should be communication between parents and
students, not just between the school and the students," said Duren, 14.
Francisco Rodriguez, 17, a junior at the John D. O'Bryant High School of
Mathematics and Science in Roxbury, said the tests could force discussions
between parents and students, who often lie about their drug problems. "I
think my initial reaction would be anger because my own parents don't trust
me, but in the long run, it's probably the best decision . . . because you
get to catch the problem early before it gets out of hand," he said. Carol
Citrone, whose daughter is a senior at Westwood High School, said she liked
the idea.

"They're seeing drugs in the hallways of schools," Citrone said. "It's
difficult for them to keep it safe, and it's getting more and more
difficult." The school systems in Haverhill, Fall River, New Bedford, and
Salem have been considering approving various policies on drug testing.

Statewide, most superintendents aren't pushing for drug tests, said Tom
Scott, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School
Superintendents. Salem Superintendent Herbert Levine, who proposed random
drug testing in Salem schools after discovering that his son Joel was
addicted to OxyContin, described Healey's plan as "another arrow in the
quiver for us in education to be able to help out parents."

"[Joel] said that had drug testing been around, he never would have gotten
around to OxyContin in the first place," Levine said. Medford
Superintendent Roy Belson also backed Healey's proposal. "Anyone in my role
would want to do anything they possibly can to reduce substance abuse and
assist families dealing with it," he said.