DRUG TESTING TURNS SCHOOLS INTO ENFORCERS; TREAD CAREFULLY

Pewaukee School District officials are riding high on their student
drug testing program, now in its third year, and they're spreading the news.

Officials from Hamilton and Arrowhead School districts in Waukesha
County and Cedarburg in Ozaukee County, all at various stages of
considering a similar program, have turned to Pewaukee for information.

Will they drink the Kool-Aid?

"It's awesome," activities director John Maltsch said in describing
Pewaukee's program.

Each year Pewaukee tests 20% of its high school students in athletics
or other activities - a total of 100 in each of the first two years
and 130 this year because, contrary to one opposing argument,
participation in athletics and other activities has increased even as
its high school population dropped a bit, Maltsch said. There were
three positives the first year, five last year and none so far this year.

A waste of money?

At $30 a test, he said, the deterrent tool is darned well worth it.

The first few testing periods brought some student angst, but the
routine is apparently old hat now. An off-site computer generates the
ID number of 13 students each time. Maltsch matches numbers with
names, calls each individually to the office, "puts them at ease" and
sends them to the nurse, who hands out and collects a urine cup.

With each test, Maltsch notifies parents, who have been
overwhelmingly supportive, he said.

When the lab finds a positive, a physician contacts the parents. The
school is notified and imposes the sole penalty - missed athletic
games or events.

That's it.

Police aren't contacted. There's no suspension or restriction from
practice. But there's also no school counseling or educational
response triggered. That's left between parent and physician,
Pewaukee Superintendent Marty Van Hulle said.

I've never been a fan of school drug testing. It focuses entirely on
students most engaged in school yet legally can't reach those
uninvolved in activities and most prone to risky behavior.

It can leave parents, who need to be the front-line educators and
role models for their kids, off the hook. Like the popular trend of
putting cops in school hallways, drug testing makes schools, which
should be intent on prevention through education, more enforcer than educator.

Judging from the federal government's full-throttle push - announcing
Friday that $1.6 million in student drug testing program grant money
is now up for grabs - more districts may be joining Pewaukee, part of
a distinct minority in Wisconsin. Nearby, Janesville ended its
testing program; Oconomowoc considered but rejected one.

Nationwide, some districts in the country have lumped student drivers
who park at school into the testing pool - an idea that has caught
Arrowhead Superintendent David Lodes' attention.

He said Arrowhead administrators are just starting to collect
information and he will ask the School Board's Policy Committee March
22 if they should continue.

Wednesday night, the Hamilton School Board will have a one-hour
presentation and study session beginning at 6 p.m. to learn all it
can about the idea.

If nothing else, board members, administrators and parents should
take their time. Don't chug the Kool-Aid.