VALUE OF SCHOOL DRUG TESTING STILL BEING HOTLY DEBATED

The announcement is about as routine as any over the high school's public
address system.

Just before classes begin, a voice reads the names of about 30 student
athletes and asks them to report to the office. No reason is given, but
most students already know why: The school wants to test them for drugs.

In the war on drugs, the students at Frostproof Middle/Senior High School
in Polk County are on the latest front line. While they casually wait their
turn, talking about classes or the latest movies, their parents, educators
and government officials fiercely debate whether 14- and 15-year-old kids
should be required to provide urine samples in school.

Since a U.S. Supreme Court ruling two years ago gave schools the authority
to test more students, schools across the country have adopted random
testing. This month, the Charlotte County School Board indicated its
support for a program, which as soon as January could make it one of fewer
than a dozen Florida school districts that do drug testing.

But some argue that the tests do little to curb illegal drug use. Others
wonder whether drug testing is a wise investment of a school's scarce
resources. And some parents and civil libertarians say it demeans students
and drives them away from the extracurricular activities that might keep
them out of trouble.

"The schools don't have enough money, and we are going to spend a lot of
money on something that is marginally effective?" said Rich Rollo, a parent
at Lemon Bay High School in Englewood.

As an Army commander, Rollo oversaw random drug testing of soldiers.

"The people who think they are slick will try to beat the system, and they
can beat the system," he said. "The good kids will be alienated."

Manatee Tested, Then Quit

In the mid-1990s, Manatee High School was one of the first high schools in
the state to give students random drug tests. Every Monday, right before
school ended, notes were sent to several athletes picked at random by computer.

After school, they filed into the clinic, where employees from a drug
testing firm gave them a cup and escorted them to a bathroom stall. Blue
dye was sprinkled in the toilet to ensure the samples would not be diluted
with water. Within a few minutes, the students were done and free to go.

"I felt there was a problem and there was something we could do about it,"
said Joe Kinnan, the former athletic director who started the program in 1996.

In five years, there were only a handful of positive tests. Kinnan sees
that as evidence the policy deterred drug use. But two years ago, former
Principal Linda Boyer scrapped the program, which cost about $6,000 a year
and was paid for by booster clubs.

Current Athletic Director Howie DeCristofaro said the school stopped drug
testing after a student who tested negative admitted that he used drugs
over the weekend.

"It was ridiculous to spend the money if no one was being caught," said
DeCristofaro.

Survey Prods Charlotte

Two years ago, a Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey showed that a larger
share of Charlotte County teenagers drank alcohol and used illegal drugs
than those in any other county in the state.

Charlotte County is the only school district in the region to react to the
study. Manatee Superintendent Roger Dearing said cost was an issue. In
Sarasota, School Board Chairman Frank Kovach said, "It's not on our radar
screen."

Kids who feel peer pressure "can use this test as an out not to do drugs,"
said Mark Primerano, athletic director at Port Charlotte High School. "You
may get kids who stop doing drugs on their own, but some will do it for the
sake of the sport."

Mixed Results on Testing

Scientific evidence about the effects of random drug testing has been
limited, inconsistent and controversial. The federal government pulled the
plug on one study, citing problems with possible coercion.

Florida's Safe and Drug-Free Schools program does not allow its grant money
to be used for drug testing because the evidence supporting testing is not
strong enough, according to the state Department of Education, which
oversees the program.

The largest study of the topic -- and the major piece of research cited by
critics -- is a University of Michigan survey of 76,000 students that
showed drug tests had no effect on drug use.

The study has been criticized for comparing schools that have drug test
policies without considering whether regular testing is done. Smaller
studies indicate that drug testing deters illegal drug use.

"There is just great controversy over whether or not this is effective,"
said Charlotte School Board Chairwoman Andrea Messina. "When you look
nationwide you can find evidence on both sides. That's the problem with
almost anything. If you know how to use statistics you can get them to
prove anything."

Opponents Fight Tests

What does random drug testing do to a 15-year-old kid?

Critics such as the non-partisan Drug Policy Institute and the American
Civil Liberties Union say it can undermine trust and drive students from
extracurricular activities.

"It's a demeaning process," said Stephen Health of the Drug Policy Forum of
Florida, which is affiliated with the Drug Policy Institute. "If I want to
know what my kids are doing, I'll ask them. If there is any distrust, I'm
probably not going to do much if I hand them a urine cup."

The Drug Policy Institute and the ACLU have blitzed 20,000 school
administrators with a booklet entitled "Making Sense of Student Drug
Testing: Why Educators are Saying No."

"We should treat students like adults and give them pretty much the same
constitutional rights," said Bruce Winick, a professor of constitutional
law at University of Miami Law School. "I think we are missing a good
opportunity in educating our citizenry about constitutional values about
how important privacy is. It demeans the value of our constitutional rights."

Polk County's Case Study

Polk County's testing program is one of just eight in the nation to receive
a chunk of the federal government's $6 million grant for drug testing.

The grant allows the 85,000-student school district to test student
athletes at all of its 15 high schools. The University of Florida evaluates
the program. So far, of 550 students tested, two tested positive.

Many students say they don't mind the tests.

"The athletes are the ones who the other kids look up to," said Blake Fann,
a football and baseball player at Frostproof Middle/Senior High School,
"and if they don't do drugs they are setting a good example. If they get
tested, and they test positive, that sets an example, too."

When the district conducted a smaller program in the 1990s, surveys showed
it reduced drug use among students in extracurricular activities from 19.5
percent to 11.8 percent over a four-year period.

The program was scrapped during a tough budget year. Ed Boos, the school
district's supervisor of prevention, health and wellness, says drug use has
climbed back to the high teens.

"I'm in favor of trying this," Boos said. "I think it will work, but the
jury is out, and the jury will be in two years from now when the studies
come back."