Pubdate: Wed, 03 Aug 2005
Source: Tribune Review (Pittsburgh, PA)
Copyright: 2005 Tribune-Review Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/trib/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/460
Author: Brandon Keat
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)

OFFICIALS STILL BACK SCHOOL DRUG TESTS

Seneca Valley School District officials are sticking by their drug-testing 
of students, although other local districts have abandoned the idea.

The number of positive drug tests fell to 28 for the 2004-05 school year, 
down from 36 the previous year, said officials with the school district, 
located in Butler County.

"We believe that's an indicator that students are hearing our message," 
said Seneca Valley spokeswoman Linda Andreassi. "We believe they are seeing 
it as the deterrent we intended it to be."

Seneca Valley was the first Western Pennsylvania district to institute drug 
testing, starting in the 2002-03 school year. Tests are mandatory for 
athletes and students involved in other extracurricular activities in 
grades seven through 12 and for students who apply for a district parking pass.

Three other local districts that experimented with drug testing have 
dropped it.

Officials at Canon-McMillan School District, Washington County, said they 
ditched it last year because of the cost. Franklin Regional, Westmoreland 
County, and Carlynton school districts eliminated it because of legal 
concerns. The debate has revolved around privacy rights and preventing drug 
abuse.

In November 2003, the state Supreme Court ruled that Delaware Valley School 
District in eastern Pennsylvania could be sued over its drug-testing 
policy, which is similar to those instituted by Seneca Valley, Carlynton 
and Franklin Regional. Although the U.S. Supreme Court had upheld a 
comparable drug-testing policy in Texas, Pennsylvania's Constitution allows 
for greater privacy protection, the state Supreme Court ruled.

The parents who sued Delaware Valley dropped their lawsuit in 2004. Their 
daughters had graduated from college by the time the state Supreme Court ruled.

Carlynton School Board member David Roussos said officials there were 
worried by the Delaware Valley lawsuit.

"It's a precarious thing to begin with. You want to be pro-active, but 
(drug testing) is pretty intrusive," Roussos said. "We pulled back."

Franklin Regional Athletic Director Ron Suvak said the district shelved 
random drug testing under advice from its solicitor and worries about the 
Delaware Valley case.

Stuart Knade, chief counsel for the Pennsylvania School Boards Association, 
said the question of testing students without suspicion of drug use has not 
been settled.

"The Supreme Court really threw a curveball at us. It's basically 
impossible reading the opinion to know what kind of policy is going to pass 
muster," he said. "The constitutionality of any particular program is not 
clear."

Deciding whether to institute or continue drug tests "just has to do with 
an individual school board's comfort level," Knade said.

Neither state nor federal officials track the number of schools with 
mandatory drug testing.

The interest in random testing was growing rapidly three or four years ago, 
said Matt Franz, director of operations for SPORT SAFE Testing Service 
Inc., of Powell, Ohio, which handles the testing for about 35 districts in 
seven states, including Seneca Valley and previously Carlynton and Franklin 
Regional.

"Our next big area was going to be Pittsburgh, and that's where it was 
going. That (Supreme Court) ruling pulled the carpet out of most programs," 
he said. "No school wants to get sued. ... That fear certainly scared a 
number of schools away."

However, Franz said, interest seems to be re-emerging, and the 
Connellsville and New Castle school districts added random testing for 
2004-05 and plan to continue next school year.

Seneca Valley Solicitor Matt Hoffman said the testing is popular among 
district officials and parents.

At Seneca Valley, families must pay for the initial drug test of each 
student, and the district conducts random tests during the rest of the 
year. During each of the past two years, Andreassi said, the district 
budgeted $60,000 for the random tests, which cost $26 each.

The tests can detect alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, amphetamines, Valium, 
opiates, barbiturates, PCP, Darvon and methadone. She said most of the 28 
students who tested positive showed signs of marijuana or alcohol use.

The test does not detect steroids, LSD or ecstasy.

Andreassi said it is difficult to gauge the success of the program because 
it is intended as a deterrent, and there is no way to know how many 
students might have done drugs but chose not to because of the testing.

Parents have given strong anecdotal evidence of the program's success, she 
said.

"We have helped a number of families by identifying (drug users) and 
turning the problem back over to them," she said. In most cases, the 
parents later said they had no idea their children were using drugs, she said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom