Pubdate: Thu, 14 Dec 2006
Source: St. Petersburg Times (FL)
Section: Hernando County
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
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Test)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

SCHOOLS SAY NO TO DRUG TESTING

BROOKSVILLE - There was at least $183,289 in federal funding on the 
table Tuesday night, and perhaps much more.

But a divided Hernando County School Board judged the price of taking 
that money - asking teenagers to submit to random urine tests for the 
presence of illegal drugs - was too high.

By a 3-2 vote, the board rejected a grant it won in October from the 
Department of Education's Safe and Drug Free Schools program to carry 
out the testing.

"I am going to join my two colleagues in opposition to this grant, to 
say thank you but no thank you," said board member Jim Malcolm, who 
voted with John Sweeney and Chairman Pat Fagan against the plan. 
"It's not a program; it's a study."

Malcolm, who described himself as still undecided at the start of the 
meeting, was unimpressed by the answers he heard from two federal 
officials who came to Brooksville for the vote.

Asked by board member Sandra Nicholson whether random testing served 
as a deterrent to drug use, Dr. Paul Strasberg said there was no 
solid evidence.

"There haven't been any rigorous studies to establish whether student 
drug testing works or not," he told the board.

Strasberg said the federal government hoped its analysis of Hernando 
students and their drug use habits might supply such answers.

Eleven other districts across the nation were awarded similar grants 
this year, along with 55 districts in 2005 and about eight in 2003.

But Strasberg's statements seemed to settle the question for Malcolm, 
who criticized the lack of a drug education component and the 
program's limited focus - by Supreme Court mandate - on students 
involved in competitive sports or activities.

"It appears that a youngster walks the extra mile and involves 
themselves in sports or extracurricular activities, then they give up 
their right to privacy," he added.

Board member Dianne Bonfield joined Nicholson in supporting the 
testing effort, citing gender research that suggests drug education 
programs have failed, at least for thrill-seeking boys.

Fagan said he was convinced more could be done by the district in 
terms of education. And he said training could help make the 
district's existing policy of testing students upon suspicion of drug 
use more effective.

"Our teachers and coaches know who these kids are," Fagan said, 
referring to students involved with drugs or alcohol. "They should be 
held more responsible in identifying them."

Malcolm said three out of five middle school programs in Hernando use 
nothing more than the health curriculum in their textbooks for drug education.

Several parents and community members opposed the testing plan and 
said the board's efforts to date have been misguided.

"If this is a serious problem, make it a serious agenda item for you 
as a board," urged Hernando High School parent Bill Korn. "Let's make 
it data-driven, and let's focus on the real problem here in Hernando County."

It was the second rebuff in a month for the federal program. On Nov. 
21, the Citrus County School Board also backed away, with some board 
members calling it too intrusive and others rejecting its narrow 
focus on student athletes.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman