SOME STATE SCHOOLS ADOPT RANDOM DRUG SCREENING POLICIES

This month, two more Mississippi schools put policies into effect to allow
students to be randomly screened for drugs.

The Rankin County School Board voted on April 14 for a preliminary version
of what has been called by one official "one of the most aggressive
drug-testing programs in the state."

Under the plan, $150,000 will be spent to randomly test students that
participate in extracurricular activities. The district will seek additional
federal grants to defer the costs.

Similar policies have been put into effect in the Tupelo, Pearl, Petal and
North Pike school districts. Oxford High School principal Bill Hovious said
he supported the decision, although random drug screening is not currently
done at his school.

"We do not do that in Oxford at the present time," Hovious said. Although no
official plans are in place, there have been efforts to start random drug
screening at OHS, he said.

"Our superintendent went to a statewide meeting dealing with the legalities
of random drug testing in schools," Hovious said. "The Mississippi courts
seem to support that kind of thing. I think the main focus is in the
athletics because of all the bad press steroids have been getting." Hovious
doesn't think taking urine or blood from a minor is a violation of privacy.
"We're talking 14 to 17 year-olds," Hovious said. "What are the long-term
effects of (drug abuse) on them? We're talking about our future here."
Janice Antonow, alderman of Oxford's third ward, said she didn't think such
a program would be constitutional.

"I don't think it's a good idea," Antonow said. "I'm a school administrator
by profession. I remember my school law courses I took. And unless things
have changed dramatically, I don't think you can do that unless you have
probable cause."

She feels Oxford's police are doing well fighting drug abuse in Oxford, and
strongly encourages efforts to reduce drug abuse through education. In
March, Metro Narcotics Division rounded up 23 drug-dealing suspects in
Operation Fishhook. Twenty of the charges were for cocaine. "One (way to
fight drug abuse) is DARE, Drug Awareness and Resistance Education," Antonow
said. "The police department has a grant to do drug education in the
elementary school and the middle school." Antonow said DARE has the added
advantage of letting students develop friendships with police.

"In addition to explaining about how drug abuse can ruin your life, they
also talk to the kids about self esteem and peer pressure," Antonow said.
"The police officers are in the school (to interact with kids), and it helps
them develop a relationship. My only thought is that we need to extend this
program into the high schools."

She also supports a DARE program for parents to help educate them as well.
"It would be good for parents to know what the kids are learning through
DARE," she said.

Hovious said he didn't think other people had his level of concern about
drug abuse at OHS.

"I am concerned about (alcohol and drug abuse) as a principal. We don't have
kids stumbling down and passing out high. They seem to wait until after
school and the weekend," he said.

"The screening could stop people from being alcoholics in the future," he
said. "If a policy like that were to be developed, it would come from the
board of trustees. It would probably be developed with student, parent,
teacher and administrator input."