SCHOOL BOARD DRUG TESTING QUESTIONED

Larger Issues Need Attention, Some Say

WAUKESHA - A recent decision by a northern Wisconsin school board to have
its members drug tested has drawn questions from area school board
presidents, who said there were other concerns facing school boards. The
Associated Press on Monday reported that the Lac du Flambeau School Board
has become the first board known in the state to require its members to
submit to drug testing. Hair samples will be collected from elected board
members and tested for illegal drug use. A proponent of the plan said the
drug testing was a way to further the idea of a drug-free school.

But the practice was met with a variety of reactions around Waukesha
County, which ranged from criticizing the policy to at least one man
wondering what the policy aimed to accomplish.

Bill Domina, president of the Waukesha School Board, said elected officials
pass their true tests at the ballot boxes, where races are decided on
community involvement and credentials. Any questions of drug use likely
would be part of the election process, he said.

"I think it's a little over the top," Domina said of the drug-testing
policy. "We still live in a country with a Constitution. ... I think in the
school district we try to respect individuals' rights to free expression
and against unreasonable search and seizure.

"The reason I don't think it will catch on is it's some sort of political
demonstration that doesn't reflect a valuing of those constitutional rights
that we try to encourage in our school district, and I don't think that
will change real soon."

Mark Herro, president of the Oconomowoc Area School Board, said he would
"have a problem" telling an elected board member, who serves without pay,
to submit to a drug test.

"Personally, I'd have no problem taking a test, but I believe other board
members would say the same thing, and that is, we would wonder why such a
policy would ever be implemented," he said.

Charles Damaske, president of the Muskego-Norway School Board, agreed. But
he added that he did not think anyone on the board there would oppose such
a policy.

"I'd do it. I'd be the first in line," he said. "But what's the point? I'd
think they would spend their time on something a little more meaningful.
They really must have nothing better to do."

Jean Cruikshank, president of the Mukwonago Area School Board, said she
doubted the policy would catch on here.

"I don't think I'd be in favor of it. There is no reason to do drug testing
of elected officials," she said. "There are already laws in place where if
you are charged with certain crimes you cannot hold office, and I think
that's sufficient."

Ken Cole, executive director of the Wisconsin Association of School Boards,
said the policy raised more questions than it answered.

"What if a board member refuses to take the test? I don't know if the
member loses the job for refusing to take the test," he said. "I am not
even sure if they failed the test they could lose their job. There's no
provision around these circumstances."

Cole added that people also must disclose which medications they are taking
to prevent false positive readings, and they might be hesitant to reveal
that information.

"I understand it as a gesture because they are doing it for employees, but
school board members don't fall into the same category," he said. "It
creates more confusion than it does substance for qualifications for being
a school board member."

Dee Kneebone, a retired teacher from New Berlin, said she believed school
board members have a responsibility to set a good personal example for
students. Drug tests, although they may not reflect a person's ability to
be an effective school board member, are a way to gauge that, she said.

"It's a shame society has come to the point where that's even needed," she said.