Pubdate: Wed, 15 Nov 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, staff writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States)

SCHOOL BOARD POSTPONES A DECISION ON RANDOM DRUG TESTING PROGRAM

BROOKSVILLE - A decision on random drug testing in the  Hernando
County schools won't come until at least Dec.  12.

School Board members Tuesday weighed the pros and cons  of accepting
$183,289 in federal funds to start a urine  testing program for
student athletes.

But three board members said they were uncomfortable  with the narrow
scope of the federal Department of  Education program, and expressed
interest in a broader  program of voluntary testing.

"A student is given, by law, the privacy not to be  tested," said
board member John Druzbick, referring to  Supreme Court rulings that
restrict mandatory testing  to students in extracurricular activities.
"That  student decides to expand their world by joining a  sport or
activity, and all of a sudden their privacy  goes away?"

Under the federal grant, Hernando would require 10  percent of high
school students involved in competitive  extracurricular activities to
submit to random urine  tests every month.

But federal money cannot be used to test students who  drive cars to
school or those who volunteer for  testing, as the district had
proposed, said Department  of Education spokeswoman Casey Ruberg.

Janice Smith, director of Hernando's drug abuse  prevention program,
said random testing gives students  a chance to resist peer pressure,
a way to say "no" and  blame the test. Board member Sandra Nicholson
said she  supported testing on that basis.

And superintendent Wendy Tellone said the county needed  to face facts
borne out in survey after survey: Its  students have a drug problem.

"I have to say, as much as I admire a lot of the  education we're
doing, it is not working," she added.

Chairman Jim Malcolm said he was convinced of the drug  problem, but
had concerns about student privacy. And he  wasn't prepared to rule
out drug education, asking for  a report on current efforts at the
Dec. 12 meeting.

"I think we need to do everything we can to educate our  students,
educate our parents," said board member Pat  Fagan, who opposes random
testing.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin