CLINTON SCHOOLS' INTRUSION

A Michigan school district's attempt to keep students from abusing drugs by
subjecting those who display signs and behavior of substance abuse to a
saliva-based test that gives immediate results is much too subjective and
presumptuous.

The Clinton Community Schools board of education had good intentions when
it adopted a policy to administer the test to students believed to be using
drugs. Students who display signs or behavior associated with drug use -
blood-shot eyes or an odor of illegal drug use, for example - are sent to
the principal's office where they are questioned.

"They can either deny it or they can admit it to me," Jim DuVall,
principal, said. "If they deny it, I offer the option of being tested to
prove that they are correct. If they refuse the test, we consider that an
admission of guilt."

Well, Mr. DuVall presumes guilt, and school officials are not law
enforcement officers or prosecutors. Clinton administrators have been
trained to administer the test and teachers have been schooled about what
to look for. But school staffs are not experts in these fields, and that
they are not puts them in an untenable position. Suppose a student's eyes
are red because he's tired, has an eye infection, or wears contacts that
give him trouble? The district's guidelines avoid random testing, but who
decides if an official is merely out to "get" a student who is sent to the
principal for testing? It could happen.

The district says that parents are notified as soon as possible and that
the tests are discarded. But there are other concerns that the American
Civil Liberties Union is right to raise. For example, are the tests
accurate, even if initial positive test results are verified by a
laboratory? Are students legally charged? How do schools differentiate
between one-time users and habitual users?

If test results are positive, a student is suspended for three or five days
on the first and second occasions. If there is a third offense, students
face a 10-day suspension and there is a recommendation for expulsion. So do
results of drug tests stay in a student's records?

Some Ohio school districts, including Toledo Public, give student athletes
drug tests, and that makes sense. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to
issue a ruling on an Oklahoma school district that wants to randomly give
drug tests to students in such extracurricular activities as choir. The
Oklahoma district's idea is intrusive, just as is Clinton's, and the high
court should find that to be so.