ONE STEP AT A TIME

If the Rowan-Salisbury School System is going to implement random drug
tests for students at some time in the future, South Rowan High may point
the way in devising a moderate approach on a controversial issue.

For parents and students who oppose any testing on principle, the proposal
to link tests to student parking permits probably won't change any minds.
But it's likely to gain broader support than other options for two reasons:
It emerged from a school-based group, and it's limited in scope yet broad
enough to get the attention of any student who drives to school - or rides
with another student driver.

Giving individual schools the leeway to set their own course in this area
may be the optimal solution.

It's certainly one that the school board should consider. While the board
can't allow individual school communities to do their own redistricting, it
can allow them to set their own drug-testing policies, providing they
adhere to limits outlined in previous court rulings. Local control won't
dispel concerns that such tests abridge individual rights - or that a
particular policy may not go far enough.

But community control is more likely to yield decisions that a majority of
each school's parents, teachers, students and staff can accept.

Broad-based support is essential for any testing policy to succeed.

At South Rowan, administrators have given themselves a solid foundation for
approaching this issue.

An important first step was the school's Choice program, in which students
volunteer to participate in random drug tests. Positive reactions to that
program may have helped persuade some skeptical parents to consider
expanding the testing routine.

In addition, the recommendation to link random tests to parking permits
percolated up through the School Improvement Team, rather than being handed
down as a bureaucratic edict. The school followed up with a public forum
that gave people a chance to ask questions, voice concerns and hear
different viewpoints. That doesn't necessarily mean everyone endorses the
recommendation, but it does make people feel connected to the process - and
thus more likely to accept the outcome.

The unknown factor here is whether random testing is effective as a
deterrent. Like questions about the deterrent effect of capital punishment,
that's an issue that can generate endless debate, with no definitive
answer. What's certain, however, is that far too many youths experiment
with drugs, with sometimes tragic consequences. It may be that random
testing is a way to help some resist temptation. Rather than rush headlong
into a systemwide policy, however, better to follow South Rowan's example
of going a step at a time, a school at a time - and closely watch where
those steps lead.