Pubdate: Sun, 04 Sep 2011
Source: Record Searchlight (Redding, CA)
Copyright: 2011 Record Searchlight
Contact:  http://www.redding.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/360
Author: Damon Arthur
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States)

SHASTA HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT DROPS DRUG TESTING PLAN

Cost of Fighting ACLU in Court Deemed Too High

The Shasta Union High School District has given up its three-year 
battle to implement a mandatory drug-testing policy for students 
participating in extracurricular activities.

The district has maxed out its legal insurance coverage of $100,000 
and could spend thousands more fighting the American Civil Liberties 
Union in court, district Superintendent Jim Cloney said.

The district policy - which would expand mandatory testing for 
students in such programs as band, choir and drama - is in the best 
interests of its students, he said, and the board of trustees wants 
the most comprehensive policy allowed by law.

"However, given the virtually unlimited resources available to the 
ACLU to litigate this case and the potential exposure we have for 
paying the ACLU's attorney fees, our board made the difficult 
decision to direct our attorneys to attempt to settle the case," 
Cloney said in an email.

The district received a $100,800 federal grant and implemented the 
program in fall 2008 over the objections of several parents. The 
program expanded a similar program for athletes.

Nonathlete students were randomly chosen weekly to submit to drug tests.

District officials at the time said they felt they were on solid 
legal footing because they had created the policy to conform to a 
2002 U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing a school district in 
Oklahoma to implement a drug-testing policy for students involved in 
"competitive extracurricular activities."

The ACLU, however, filed a lawsuit in Shasta Superior Court asking a 
judge to issue an injunction stopping the district from testing 
students. In May 2009, Judge Monica Marlowe issued the injunction 
halting the tests.

Marlowe said in her ruling that the district's policy was not 
consistent with the California Constitution and the Supreme Court decision.

The district appealed, but in September 2010, justices of the state 
3rd District Court of Appeal upheld Marlowe's ruling. The 31-page 
decision said Marlowe did not err in her decision and sent justices 
the case back to the Superior Court for trial.

Cloney said the ACLU initially proposed settling the case by having 
the district revert back to testing only athletes for the next five 
years. The ACLU also wanted $250,000 for legal costs.

The board agreed to pay the ACLU $50,000 for attorney fees. The 
district also proposed a voluntary testing program for nonathletes.

An ACLU spokeswoman declined to comment on the proposed settlement 
but said her agency planned to make a decision within the next couple of weeks.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom