Pubdate: Fri, 24 Apr 2009 Source: Athens Banner-Herald (GA) Copyright: 2009 Athens Newspapers Inc Contact: http://www.onlineathens.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1535 OCONEE BOARD OF EDUCATION GOING WRONG WAY ON DRUG TESTING The Oconee County school board's recent decision to consider expanding a proposed random drug testing policy to cover even more students might be more trouble than it's worth. The board had been scheduled to vote earlier this week on a policy that would have randomly tested high school student-athletes, and students who drive to school, for use of a range of drugs including marijuana, cocaine and methamphetamine. However, the board decided Monday to postpone a decision on the policy proposal for a month. In a Tuesday story in this newspaper, Oconee County Board of Education Chairman David Weeks said the postponement will allow the board to both "expand the language" of the proposed drug-testing policy and "make sure, from a legal standpoint, we're doing it right." Not that the Banner-Herald's editorial board suffers under any delusions that its musings have any overarching impact on local public-policy decisions, but to the extent any Oconee school board members might have misread an April 16 editorial that wondered why testing shouldn't be expanded beyond student-athletes and student-motorists, please understand we weren't advocating such expansion, but questioning the advisability of any random drug testing of any students. Here is the relevant portion of the April 16 editorial: "Isn't it possible, for instance, that Oconee and North Oconee high school marching band students, whose practice sessions involve physical activity, pose a danger to themselves and others if they are under the influence of drugs? And wouldn't the two schools have an interest in, say, deterring their science club members from using school laboratory facilities while under the influence of drugs? "If a stated goal of the policy is to encourage 'substance-free' lifestyles, why wouldn't both schools be intent on subjecting every student to random drug tests?" Of course, the reason schools shouldn't "be intent on subjecting every student to random drug tests" is that such a policy - if not in its words, then possibly in the vagaries of its practical application - - could place the school system in the position of violating students' Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures. It's true the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that random testing of students who participate in athletics and other extracurricular activities is permissible. It is, however, possible that the Oconee school board's desire to expand the currently proposed policy, even in pursuit of the worthwhile goals of ensuring student safety and encouraging substance-free lifestyles, might extend its testing protocols into legally questionable areas. Thus, it might be wise for the Oconee school board, in conjunction with school system administrators, to look at how it might advance its interests in student safety and substance-free lifestyles in the least intrusive manner possible, rather than moving the system toward a wide-ranging policy that might place it in some legal jeopardy. - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart