Pubdate: Thu, 28 Mar 2002
Source: Oklahoma Gazette (OK)
Copyright: 2002 Gazette Media, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.okgazette.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/317
Author: Bill Bleakley, publisher
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)

THE ROAD TO THE SUPREME COURT

When the Tecumseh Board of Education developed it's student drug-testing 
program in 1998, its members had no idea that they would have to seek the 
assistance of the United States Supreme Court to defend their efforts.

Tecumseh is a city of 6,500. Its people have a sincere concern about 
long-standing drug use by their children.

Although the school district uses the usual weapons against drugs, such as 
education, counseling and interdiction programs, these efforts have not 
been fully effective in a state with high school marijuana use ranking in 
the nation's top 10. The board needed a policy focused on deterrence and 
intervention in an even handed manner, instead of one based on 
individualized suspicion requiring surveillance, accusation and 
prosecution, steps which would break the bond of trust between teacher and 
student.

The board selected a policy of random drug testing of students engaged in 
competitive extracurricular activities. Under the policy, students who 
tested positive would have to participate in drug counseling to remain in 
the activity.

There are no suspensions, loss of academic credit or criminal prosecution 
resulting from a positive test, just a requirement to seek help for the 
problem.

The policy would not only be a deterrent to students using drugs, but would 
also provide an opportunity for students who don't use drugs to decline 
drugs offered by their peers without embarrassment.

When the Tecumseh board adopted the policy, there had been no drug-testing 
cases in the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. The School district sought 
guidance from the Supreme Court's decision in Vernonia School District v. 
Acton, which found random drug testing of athletes to be constitutional, 
and the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals' decision in Todd v. Rush, which 
found random drug testing of students in competitive activities to be 
constitutional. However, before the policy could be fully implemented, it 
was challenged in the Federal District Court for the Western District of 
Oklahoma by two students represented by the American Civil Liberties Union. 
After the district court upheld the policy, the board reinstituted the policy.

Although the Tenth Circuit held that the district had failed to demonstrate 
an identifiable drug problem among a sufficient number of students in each 
activity before implementing the policy, the court provided no guidelines 
on how to meet its standard. Tecumseh's petition to the Supreme Court was 
granted and arguments were heard last week.

Tecumseh hopes the Supreme Court will recognize the discretion of local 
boards of education throughout the county to use their judgment in 
deterring if there is a drug problem among their students, justifying 
random drug testing in competitive extracurricular activities.

Tecumseh does not want to have its teachers placed in the position of 
having to search out some "sufficient number" of students to be accused and 
prosecuted for drug use in order to justify a reasonable and thoughtful 
drug-testing policy.

It wants its board of education to be able to act upon reasonable evidence 
that a drug problem exists and to implement a policy that addresses that 
problem in a non-accusatory fashion. The board wants to provide deterrence 
and intervention for its students, not punishment, and it hopes the Supreme 
Court will give guidelines to enable school districts across the nation to 
develop reasonable student drug-testing policies without the fear of 
expensive litigation which interrupts their educational programs.

No one can deny that this country is plagued with student substance abuse. 
In a survey conducted last year by the Public Health Service in 435 schools 
across America, 54 percent of 12th-grade students and 45.6 percent of 
10th-grade students reported they had used an illegal drug.

If Tecumseh is to educate its children to be responsible and productive 
citizens, it must be given the opportunity to implement reasonable programs 
to deter such drug use and intervene with remedial assistance when 
substance abuse occurs.

Bill Bleakley is publisher of the Oklahoma Gazette and an attorney with the 
Center for Education Law, which represented Tecumseh.
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