SCHOOLS WARN N.J. RULES COULD END DRUG TESTING

Drug testing rules proposed by the state Board of Education would make
it harder and more costly for districts to randomly test students,
local and White House officials testified Wednesday in Trenton.

The rules would not require districts to test students, but would
stipulate that those that do screen teenagers must conduct and analyze
the tests at state-licensed laboratories, or become state-licensed
labs themselves. Any costs associated with drug testing would fall to
the district.

Currently, most of the 20 districts in the state that screen students
rely on school nurses to conduct and analyze the tests. Results that
aren't clearly negative are sent to a lab for further evaluation.

School administrators from Pequannock and elsewhere told the Board of
Education that the department's rigorous certification requirements
could dismantle testing programs in the state -- programs they say
deter drug use.

John Graf, who directs Pequannock's aggressive testing program, said
state education officials' "misplaced caution ... flies against the
intent of both the state's judicial and legislative support for random
student testing."

Lisa Brady, superintendent of Hunterdon Central Regional High School
in Flemington -- where school nurses have collected urine and saliva
for drug tests since 1997 -- blasted the proposed regulations as a
"huge and unnecessary stumbling block ... that will waste taxpayer
dollars and hinder schools in their efforts to keep teens away from
drugs."

And Dr. Bertha Madras, who helps run the Bush administration's
anti-drug efforts, testified that the proposed rules are too
restrictive and burdensome. She pointed to the White House's grant
program, which has awarded millions of dollars to schools to finance
random drug screening, as a model the state should follow.

"The federal program is flexible," said Madras. "That flexibility in
choice is a major component in the overall success of the grant program."

The proposal covers only students in Grades 9-12. It would not
preclude testing of younger students, nor would it impose restrictions
on how their specimens are collected or analyzed, said Susan Martz,
director of educational support services for the state Education Department.

The Department of Education proposed the rules at the behest of the
Legislature, which maintains that random drug testing may dissuade
students from using drugs.

"The issue for us is whether schools are really affording kids the
protection they need," said Martz. "We have to balance that against
whether the regulations impose undue burdens on the districts."

Though less than 10 percent of the state's high school districts
randomly test their students, the figure has been steadily rising
since 2002, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that schools could test
students as long as it didn't interfere with a student's right to
academic instruction.

To work around that restriction, towns such as Pequannock require
random testing of any student involved in extracurricular activities,
including sports. Students who use the school parking lot, considered
another privilege, also are subject to testing.

Wayne, North Bergen and Secaucus also screen students regularly. Other
districts, including River Dell and Fort Lee, have considered joining
them.

The tests screen for marijuana, cocaine and a variety of other
narcotics. A growing number of schools, including Pequannock, are also
testing for alcohol, using tests so sensitive that they can determine
on Monday whether students consumed alcohol the previous Friday night.

If tests are positive, parents are notified but police are not. Those
students are barred from school activities until they receive
counseling and pass a subsequent test.

Roseanne Scotti, director of the Drug Policy Alliance of New Jersey,
was the only speaker to testify in favor of the proposed regulations.
"These policies and procedures are critical to ensuring that the
random drug testing that is done in our schools is of the highest
quality and the least prone to errors that might cause false positives
or false negatives."

According to the 2005 New Jersey Student Health Survey, 79 percent of
students have consumed alcohol and 36 percent have tried marijuana. In
the 30 days prior to the survey, 46 percent of students drank alcohol
and 20 percent used marijuana.

Opponents of random drug screening did not testify at the hearing, but
have voiced concern in the past. Few dispute the wisdom of districts
testing students suspected of being intoxicated while at school. But
civil liberties advocates and medical groups, including the American
Academy of Pediatrics, say testing all students randomly amounts to a
"Big Brother" intrusion into private lives outside of school.