Pubdate: Tue, 29 Oct 2002 Source: Log Cabin Democrat (AR) Copyright: 2002 The Log Cabin Democrat Contact: http://thecabin.net/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/548 Author: TAMMY KEITH, Log Cabin Staff Writer PLAINTIFFS MAINTAIN STUDENT POLICY VIOLATES U.S., ARKANSAS CONSTITUTIONS Four parents have filed a civil lawsuit in Faulkner County Circuit Court on behalf of their children to stop drug testing, which was just adopted this year by the Conway School District. Bruce Plopper, one of the plaintiffs, said Monday, "I think the students are not property and you have to treat them as human beings." He was one of the most vocal opponents of drug testing while the issue was debated at meetings of the Conway School District's Board of Education. The school board voted 4-3 in August to adopt a drug-testing policy. Students in grades seven through 12 in extracurricular activities will be randomly tested. Conway Superintendent James Simmons said he had turned the matter over to Bill Brazil, the school district's attorney. "He'll tell us what we need to do," Simmons said, adding he was surprised the parents filed the lawsuit. "We'll just go right on until somebody tells us not to," Simmons said. No students have been tested, yet. Monday was the day when the district's principals had to turn in the names of all students in extracurricular activities, Simmons said. Those names will be given to Counseling Associates so a database can be created for the random testing. Other parents listed as plaintiffs are Michael D. Conine, and Henry A. and Maureen L. Zimmerebner. The lawsuit was filed by Conway attorney Lynn Plemmons. Even though the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled it is legal to randomly test students in extracurricular activities, "the Arkansas Constitution allows more protection under search and seizure," Plopper said. "For the various reasons listed in our petition, we believe the policy violates the Arkansas Constitution, Arkansas common law and the spirit of statutory law in general. We also believe the policy violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution," Plopper said in a statement issued Monday. "The step we have taken today is a natural move to protect our children's rights." The lawsuit seeks a temporary restraining order and permanent injunction on the drug testing, which the plaintiffs call suspicionless, because they maintain it violates students' common law right to privacy against intrusion and restricts student freedom in a way that "contradicts the spirit of a parallel Arkansas statute concerning student freedom." It also contends that "the student drug-testing policy is impermissibly vague." The lawsuit states that drug-testing students in elective, for-credit classes such as band, choir, newspaper, orchestra, etc., while not testing students in classes such as advanced placement English, violates the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment. The plaintiffs maintain that students "volunteer" for extracurricular activities the same way they "volunteer" to take unrequired advanced placement classes. Dr. Terry Fiddler, president of the Conway school board, said, "The main point is, if these were questions prior to this, why were they not brought up before?" Fiddler also said he doesn't understand some of the issues put forth in the lawsuit. "I guess this is legalese." Fiddler voted against the drug policy in August, but now that it's a policy, "it's backed by all the board members," he maintained. Others school districts in Faulkner County that have implemented drug testing are Vilonia, Greenbrier, Mayflower and Mount Vernon-Enola. - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart