DRUG TESTS OF STUDENTS CONSIDERED

Hart District Board Says Use Increasing

SANTA CLARITA - The board that governs area high schools and junior
highs is moving forward with a proposal to drug-test student athletes
and others involved in competitive campus-sponsored activities.

Agreeing unanimously that the Santa Clarita Valley is suffering from
a serious problem with drug use, members of the Hart Union High
School District board said drug testing, mandatory or voluntary, is a
deterrent they want to enforce.

The board discussed the issue Wednesday night and will take it up
again at its Aug. 15 meeting.

District officials have considered drug testing several times over
the years, but concerns about legal and funding issues consistently
have halted plans.

But now that a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling has expanded the
rights of schools to test students for drugs, a program appears to be
a real possibility for the Hart district.

"If a 16-year-old has to take a drug test to work at Home Depot, it
doesn't seem logical to me that we don't enforce that in our
classrooms," board member Steve Sturgeon said.

"We are fully aware that drugs are being used on or in the vicinity
of our campuses. We need to set a better standard for our kids."

Expulsions and suspensions from district campuses have increased
steadily in the last three years. Since 2003, 79 students have been
expelled for possession or sale of drugs, or possession of drug
paraphernalia. In the same period, 786 students have been suspended
for similar offenses.

District Superintendent Jaime Castellanos brought the voluntary
drug-testing issue to the board for discussion Wednesday night. His
original plan was to test students who agreed to it in writing and
had written approval from parents.

"Every school district, including this one, sadly, has kids doing
drugs," Castellanos said.

But several board members and parents, said voluntary testing is not
enough.

"We need to do this to everyone if we want to try and solve a
problem," board member Dennis King said.

Valencia High School physics teacher James Duncan said he has lost
two students to drugs during his 12-year tenure with the district.

"There is an image of what kids are using drugs: It's usually the
shady kid or the 'at-risk' kid," Duncan said. "But in the last 14
years that I have spent as a teacher, I can tell you it's the star
kids, the active ones on campus, who are doing drugs."

The most common reasons schools avoid testing for drugs are the legal
concerns and the cost.

Organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union have claimed
random drug-testing policies violate Fourth Amendment constitutional
protection against unwarranted search and seizure. But in a recent
ruling, the Supreme Court gave the green light to schools for random
drug tests of students involved in competitive extracurricular
activities - academic teams, such as debate and decathlon squads, as
well as athletics.

The Bush administration also has increased federal funding for
drug-testing programs, said Dr. Bertha Madras, deputy director of the
Office of National Drug Control Policy. She said drug-testing
programs of about 500 schools are currently being funded by the
Department of Education, and at least 500 other schools are funding
such programs independently.

The federal grants range in amounts for periods from three to five
years. When grants expire, school officials are urged to find funding
from local and state governments or private sources.

"Schools are doing bake sales, cookie sales, even T-shirt sales,"
Madras said.

Madras said the average cost for an individual drug test varies by
state from $8 to $20 - an average annual expense of $3,000 to $5,000.

"This is a powerful investment and a fraction of a school budget,"
Madras said. "If this can prevent one child from getting into that
spiral of agonizing cons that includes violence, accidents, failing
grades at school and unplanned pregnancies, it is worth every penny."

Madras said school officials decide what drugs they want to test for.

"Each site usually knows what is an issue for them," Madras said.

Performance-enhancement drugs have become a growing issue for several
school districts. In New Jersey, Texas and Florida, high school
athletes face state-mandated random testing.