Pubdate: Thu, 05 Oct 2006
Source: St. Petersburg Times (FL)
Copyright: 2006 St. Petersburg Times
Contact: http://www.sptimes.com/letters/
Website: http://www.sptimes.com/home.shtml
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/419
Author: Tom Marshall

$183,289 FOR SCHOOL DRUG TESTS

But The Federal Money Would Come With Limits, And The  Board Is 
Already Divided Over Random Testing.

BROOKSVILLE - The Hernando County schools can have  $183,289 in 
federal money for a random drug-testing  program - if they want it.

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson's office said Wednesday that both  Hernando and 
Citrus counties have won part of the  funding they sought this summer 
to randomly test high  school students for drugs.

But with a School Board that's evenly divided on the  question of 
random testing, and strong community voices  on both sides of the 
issue, it's not at all clear  whether the program will go forward.

And two groups of students the district hoped to test -  students who 
drive to school and those in  noncompetitive extracurricular 
activities - cannot be  included in the program, federal officials said.

Only students in competitive extracurricular activities  or athletics 
can be forced to submit to random urine  tests for drugs, said Casey 
Ruberg, a spokeswoman for  the federal Department of Education.

And districts that have tested students outside those  groups on a 
voluntary basis, relying on the consent of  students and parents, can 
no longer do so, she said,  citing new rules in this year's program.

"So students who drive to school are not allowed under  our grant," 
Ruberg said.

Janice Smith, coordinator of the district's federal  Safe and 
Drug-Free Schools program, applied last month  for $418,000 over 
three years from the federal  Department of Education.

Under that proposal, the district would create a "pool"  composed of 
all students who drive to school or  participate in extracurricular 
activities, testing 10  percent - or 220 - of those students monthly 
for the  presence of a range of drugs.

But the Department of Education's Web site said that  such a pool 
went beyond what recent court rulings have  allowed.

"This program has been carefully designed in accordance  with 
decisions handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court,"  said the 
guidelines. "To date, the court has not ruled  on whether students 
who park on campus may be subject  to drug testing."

Smith said she was unaware of those limitations, but  said it was 
possible she might have to curtail the  scope of the program if it's 
approved by the School  Board.

The board is evenly split on the question. Members  Sandra Nicholson 
and Robert Wiggins favor the testing  program, while John Druzbick 
and Pat Fagan oppose it.

That leaves Chairman Jim Malcolm, who voted against a  similar 
program last year but said more recently that  he would consider 
random testing in light of the  district's significant drug problem.

Hernando students have been identified as being at  particular risk 
for drug use and binge-drinking,  according to the Florida Youth 
Substance Abuse Survey.

But the question of random testing has brought a strong  reaction 
from all quarters in recent weeks.

Calvina L. Fay, executive director of the Drug Free  America 
Foundation in St. Petersburg, said random  testing can act as a 
deterrent to drug use.

"More important, it gives students an 'out' or a chance  to say no 
without feeling pressured," she wrote in a  letter to the Times.

But Lisa Hammond, project director of the Hernando  County Community 
Anti-Drug Coalition, disagreed  strongly with that position.

"It's a punitive measure. It doesn't work," she said.  "Our kids feel 
so disenfranchised from the community.  This is just another measure 
that will further alienate  kids."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Elaine