Pubdate: Tue, 16 Aug 2005
Source: Record, The (Hackensack, NJ)
Copyright: 2005 North Jersey Media Group Inc.
Contact:  http://www.bergen.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/44
Author: Douglass Crouse

RANDOM STUDENT DRUG TESTS APPROVED

PEQUANNOCK - High school students who play sports, join clubs or park on
school grounds will be subject to random drug testing next month.

The new policy, approved Monday night by a unanimous vote of the school
board, also makes Pequannock the first district in the state with voluntary
drug testing of middle school students.

Students at Pequannock Valley Middle School must seek parental approval to
take part in the voluntary testing program.

Students will be tested for alcohol as well as drugs. Those who test
positive will be removed from their sports teams or activities and lose
parking privileges for a week. A second positive result would bring a
one-month loss of privileges, and a third strike would extend that sanction
to a year.

The threat of such penalties might well keep some students clean, said James
McMichael, a 2003 graduate of the high school.

"If someone's really good at a particular sport and they can get a
scholarship, why would they throw that away for a chance to get high?"
McMichael said.

Monday's vote followed meetings at which students spoke about open drug
abuse by their peers. Authorities say there have been six overdoses, none
fatal, in the last two years.

In November, a potent dose of heroin nearly killed Jesse Morella, then a
junior. His mother, Maureen Morella, urged trustees to approve random
testing to help other students get early help. Her son, who was left
brain-damaged, is expected to return home from a rehabilitation hospital
soon.

In addition, police arrested a high school student and two graduates in
March, saying they were involved in a ring that sold muscle-building
anabolic steroids to at least a half-dozen students. A grand jury handed up
indictments in that case on July 26, a day before the school board
introduced its proposed drug policy.

Some questioned the board's thinking. Steve Petrarca, the father of two
middle-schoolers, cited a University of Michigan study that found little
evidence that random testing reduces drug use.

School officials say the program is intended as a deterrent, with an
emphasis on student confidentiality and treatment. Students who test
positive must receive a medical exam before returning to school and seek
long-term counseling, a cost that parents are required to shoulder.

Officials said many of the costs of the new drug-testing program have yet to
be determined.

The policy, which follows a local task force's recommendations, bars school
officials from sharing test results with law enforcement authorities.

The district already tests high school and middle school students who are
suspected of using drugs. Their numbers rose from nine students three years
ago to about five times that number last school year. Of those high school
students who were checked, more than a third tested positive, officials
said.

Proponents say the new policy arms students with a persuasive reason for
resisting peer pressure. When others get pushy, they can offer a simple
response: Using drugs could mean getting kicked off the team or booted from
the club.

Andrew Miller wrestled and played football before graduating this year. He
predicted the new policy will have mixed results.

"I think it will scare more kids from starting drugs," Miller said.

However, he questioned the current drug test's effectiveness. "I personally
know kids who took drugs and took the test and passed."

At least 12 of the state's 601 school districts have passed random drug
testing policies, including Clifton and North Bergen, according to the New
Jersey School Boards Association. Most call only for testing of athletes.

Statewide, the number of districts with random testing has held fairly
steady in recent years, association spokesman Mike Yaple said.

"It can be an emotional issue," he said. "There needs to be a demonstrated
need for it, and not all boards want to put it out on center stage."

Debate over testing at the Hunterdon Central Regional High School district
made it to the state Supreme Court. Echoing similar judgments by the
nation's highest court, state justices ruled in 2003 that authorities were
within their right to test students, in part because of the high school's
history of drug-related problems.

Many of the people in the packed meeting room Monday night apparently had
come to protest a proposed pay raise for district Superintendent Jacqueline
Cusack. That vote was postponed. 
- ---
MAP posted-by: Josh