FROM DRUGS TO DRESS, COURTS HAVE SAY IN SCHOOLS

With school now back in full swing, it seems appropriate to look at two
recent court cases - both on the local and national level - that may impact
our children and our schools.

Earlier this summer, the United States Supreme Court ruled that a school
district could require all middle and high school students participating in
extracurricular activities to consent to urinalysis drug testing. Last
month, federal Judge David L. Bunning refused to issue a preliminary
injunction prohibiting enforcement of a dress code for students at Highland
Middle School in Fort Thomas.

The drug testing case decided by the Supreme Court arose out of a policy
adopted by the school district for Tecumseh, Oklahoma, a rural community
about 40 miles southeast of Oklahoma City. The policy required students to
take a drug test before participating in any extracurricular activity -
such as band, the academic team and athletics - and to submit to random
drug testing while participating in the activity.

A student who was active in several extracurricular activities challenged
the policy - through her parents - alleging that the policy violated her
constitutional rights.

Specifically, she argued that the drug testing violated the Fourth
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which protects against unreasonable
searches and seizures by the government. The student argued that the school
must have some reasonable suspicion of drug use by her before requiring her
to take a drug test.

While recognizing that "schoolchildren do not shed their constitutional
rights when they enter the schoolhouse," the Supreme Court found that the
school policy was reasonable, and thus, constitutional. When students
attend school, the Supreme Court said, the school acts as their guardian
and tutor during the school day. Accordingly, the Court opined that it
would be reasonable - in light of drug problems in our schools and in
society as a whole - for a guardian or tutor to require drug testing of his
charges.

The June decision was an expansion of a case decided by the Court in 1995,
when it held that the Vernonia, Oregon school district could impose a drug
testing policy on its student athletes. In the most recent case, the Court
had no problem expanding this reasoning to include students who
participated in any extracurricular activity, finding that "students who
participate in competitive extracurricular activities voluntarily subject
themselves to many of the same intrusions on their privacy as do athletes."

Last month, the Campbell County school board adopted a random drug testing
policy for its students who participate in extracurricular activities or
park on school property at the high school. Other schools in Northern
Kentucky also have adopted mandatory or voluntary drug testing policies.

Another policy that some local school districts have adopted is a dress
code policy. These policies generally require students to wear certain
types and colors of clothes and eschew shirts with logos, unless it is a
school-sponsored club or athletic team.

In June, the site-based decision-making council at Highlands Middle School
approved a dress code at that school. Other public schools in Northern
Kentucky also have approved dress codes for their students. This summer, a
parent of a middle school student at the Fort Thomas school, who is also a
lawyer, challenged the dress code, arguing, among other things, that the
policy represses his child's self- expression in violation of the First
Amendment to the Constitution.

The U.S. Supreme Court has not decided a case involving a school dress
code, but other courts have. Last year, a federal court in Louisville
upheld the constitutionality of a dress code imposed at a Jefferson County
high school. The court there found that a dress code helped maintain a
"peaceful and focused educational atmosphere." An Arizona appellate court
also approved a dress code adopted at a Phoenix grade school.

While Judge Bunning rejected the request for a preliminary injunction, the
case involving the Highlands Middle School dress code continues. The
student's father continues to argue that the court should issue a permanent
injunction prohibiting the dress code. The school, on the other hand, has
asked the court to summarily dismiss the lawsuit.