Pubdate: Tue, 01 Aug 2006 Source: Tribune Review (Pittsburgh, PA) Copyright: 2006 Tribune-Review Publishing Co. Contact: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/trib/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/460 Author: Bobby Kerlik Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States) BUTLER STUDENTS GET A CHANCE TO STAND TALL Butler eighth-grader Laura Metrick doesn't have a problem with being drug and alcohol free and she'd be willing to take a drug test to prove it. Starting this fall, Butler Junior High School students can volunteer for Stand Tall -- a random drug-testing program that would screen students throughout the school year for street drugs such as heroin and marijuana. "I think it would be a good club. It teaches kids not to use drugs or alcohol," said Metrick, 13. "I don't think it's an invasion of privacy." The group will function as a club with participants getting T-shirts and rubber wristbands. Club members would be eligible for after-school activities including dances, swim parties and open gyms, said principal James Allen. Parents will have to sign a consent form for students to be eligible. A saliva test will be conducted by an outside agency, the Visiting Nurses Association, in a private room, Allen said. Instead of facing punishment, students who test positive for drugs will be referred to the state's Student Assistance Program, which will be administered by local coordinators. "It's not intended as a punitive process," Allen said. "It's an avenue to let students know that a lot of the cool kids are straight. It's a positive approach. It's reinforcing to them their beliefs about drugs and letting them know a whole lot of other kids feel the same way." Stand Tall is popular in other parts of the state, but it has caught on in few districts in Western Pennsylvania, Allen said. Gary Elder, superintendent of Ridgway Area School District in Elk County, said Stand Tall has been in effect for several years at the district's high school and middle school. "We've never had anyone test positive," Elder said. "That's not the point. It's a good opportunity for positive activity and for kids to stand up for who they are and not conform." Jill Bachman, 44, a mother of three and president of the Parent, Student, Staff Organization at Butler Junior High, said most parents like the idea of voluntary drug screening. "I don't think there's any negative repercussions, especially to having a peer support group," Bachman said. "It's not a program to try and catch people. It's a program for positive reinforcement." Random drug testing has been a controversial issue in many districts. Seneca Valley was the first Western Pennsylvania district to institute mandatory drug testing, starting in fall 2002. Tests are mandatory for athletes and students involved in other extracurricular activities in grades 7 and up. In November 2003, the state Supreme Court ruled that Delaware Valley School District in Eastern Pennsylvania could be sued over its drug-testing policy. Although the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a comparable drug-testing policy in 2002, the Pennsylvania Constitution allows for greater privacy protection, the state Supreme Court ruled. Allen hopes the program will catch on and branch out to the intermediate high school and then the high school. "I'd do it. It wouldn't bother me because I don't do those kinds of things," said Laura's sister, Amy Metrick, 14, who is headed to ninth grade at Butler Intermediate High School. "A few kids are into that stuff, but most aren't. It depends on their maturity level." - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom