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. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom