Pubdate: Sun, 07 Jul 2013
Source: Record, The (Hackensack, NJ)
Copyright: 2013 North Jersey Media Group Inc.
Contact:  http://www.northjersey.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/44
Author: Deena Yellin

SCHOOL DRUG TESTS ON THE RISE ACROSS NORTH JERSEY

The Northern Valley Regional High School District's plan to launch 
random drug testing angered parents, who turned out en masse at a 
recent Board of Education meeting to question a measure being 
considered by more and more North Jersey schools in the face of a 
growing teenage drug scourge.

Once reserved for elite athletes, drug testing is now employed by at 
least a dozen public high schools in North Jersey, including 
Waldwick, Fort Lee, Kinnelon, North Bergen and River Dell. Northern 
Valley Regional and West Milford are among those considering it. And 
in the past year, drug testing has begun moving into middle schools 
in New Jersey.

Administrators in districts with random testing boast of a sharp 
decline in drug- and alcohol-related incidents among students. The 
results have assuaged some parents' initial fears that testing would 
be an invasion of privacy and do little to cut down on drug use.

"Both of my boys have been tested and it's been OK," said Adele 
Badalamenti, whose older son just graduated from Waldwick High School 
and whose younger son will be a senior in the fall. "If you are doing 
things for proactive reasons and to keep your children safe and 
alive, you have to think about what's real and right. Privacy is 
separate from keeping your child alive."

But the success stories aren't backed up by hard numbers, and forcing 
students who participate in extracurricular activities to provide 
urine, hair or blood samples for testing without prior suspicion that 
they are abusing drugs has outraged some parents and been criticized 
by the American Civil Liberties Union as an invasion of privacy.

The constitutionality of random drug testing in schools is not in 
question. A series of rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court culminated in 
a 2002 decision in an Oklahoma case that said schools can legally 
require students participating in extracurricular activities, such as 
sports, cheerleading or choir, to submit to a drug test.

The reasoning in tying drug testing to extracurricular activities is 
that those students are given an opportunity not available to all 
other students and have an obligation to follow the rules and not 
endanger themselves and others.

Using student ID numbers, typically, a handful of students are chosen 
at random every week or month for testing. The most common test 
requires the student to provide a urine sample, the cheapest and most 
accurate test. Parents, students and school officials are notified of 
the results. If the sample comes back positive, the student is 
referred for counseling and his or her extracurricular activities are 
usually revoked. Repeat offenders can be suspended and required to 
get drug abuse treatment and prove they are clean before being 
allowed to return to school.

Some districts remain skeptical about the benefits. Instead of drug 
testing, Tenafly has police conduct random searches through school 
hallways and classrooms using drug-sniffing dogs. "It doesn't mean we 
have drug issues; it's an approach we decided to take," said 
Superintendent Lynn Trager. While the dogs found drugs at other 
schools, they found none in Tenafly schools, she said.

Officials in districts that have had drug testing for several years 
say it discourages drug use because of the possibility of being 
caught and punished, and can be a deterrent to peer pressure.

"It's an incentive for kids to resist peer pressure," said James 
McLaughlin, superintendent of in the West Milford district, which is 
likely to begin drug testing in December.

"I think every school nationwide has to take on substance abuse as an 
issue," he said, adding West Milford parents generally have been supportive.

Of the schools contacted about how many students are tested, how many 
tests were positive and for what drugs, only River Dell provided 
statistics to back up claims that drug testing discourages drug use.

About 200 River Dell High School students are tested annually for 
drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, over-the-counter medication and 
alcohol. On average, four come up positive each year, said Assistant 
Principal Jeff Principe.

"Usually we catch them for using marijuana," Principe said. "With 
drugs ... they go to a counselor who determines the severity of their 
addiction."

Most who are caught are not first-time users, he said. "Hopefully, we 
get them the help they need."

Random drug testing has drawn mixed reviews from experts, who say the 
tests - each costing between $15 and $35 - may not be effective.

"Schools have to invest an enormous amount of effort to do this 
right," said Dr. Sharon Levy, assistant professor of pediatrics at 
Harvard Medical School. She was the author of a report for the 
American Academy of Pediatrics on random drug testing in schools.

"Is this really the best use of your resources? If you had the same 
amount of money, you could hire someone to work with kids who have 
substance abuse problems."

Cost isn't the only issue. At the recent Northern Valley Regional 
board meeting in Demarest, about 150 parents turned out to give 
officials an earful about what they saw as the district intruding on 
their children's privacy and their parental rights.

Instead of cutting down on drug use, parents said, testing would 
discourage participation in sports and school clubs.

The Closter Council unanimously adopted a resolution opposing 
Northern Valley Regional's drug testing plan after several residents 
whose children attend district schools denounced it at a recent 
council meeting.

"We're voicing our displeasure," said Councilman John Glidden. "We 
have no control over what the school board does. But there are too 
many unanswered questions."

Among the outspoken critics was Cheryl Phillip, whose children attend 
district schools. Phillip and other parents said they have hired a 
lawyer who is looking into challenging what she termed the district's 
"draconian measure."

Jason Williamson, a staff attorney with the ACLU in New York, said he 
agrees with those parents who see testing students who aren't 
suspected of using drugs or alcohol as an invasion of privacy.

"As a legal matter, the issue has been resolved," Williamson said. 
"Part of the rationale of testing kids in extracurricular activities 
was that these kids have diminished expectations of privacy by virtue 
of being in the care of the state while they are in the school building.

"The law is clear, but that doesn't mean we agree with it as a policy matter."

Dr. Linn Goldberg, professor of medicine and head of the division of 
health promotion and sports medicine at Oregon Health & Science 
University, and the principal investigator of a study on random drug 
testing, found that the testing was not a deterrent.

"You'd think that a school that prides itself on education would want 
to educate kids about drugs the right way," Goldberg said. "Using 
scare tactics doesn't work. Having evidence-based programs that have 
been proven to reduce drug use, like Project Alert, Life Skills 
Training, Project Northland - those programs educate kids in reducing drug use.

"So why would a school district pay much more money for a program 
without proven efficacy? To me, it smacks of being anti-education."

Supporters of random drug testing insist it has proven itself. 
Matthew Kranz, director of operations at Sport Safe testing service, 
which works with 85 schools nationwide and seven New Jersey schools, 
said the program works. He applauded New Jersey for being among the 
most aggressive in the nation in pursuing random drug testing.

"Most schools when they are talking about drug testing get concerned 
about the legal aspect of it, but the schools in New Jersey feel a 
bit more confident about implementing a program than other states," 
said Kranz, who credited a New Jersey Supreme Court ruling upholding 
Hunterdon Central Regional High School's drug testing policy as a 
reasonable measure to combat drug abuse that did not violate 
constitutional rights.

"The state Supreme Court ruling in New Jersey in 2003 put everyone at 
ease because their own state established that legal precedent," Kranz 
said. "When they see success in one school, more schools jump in. The 
ball is rolling a bit faster in New Jersey than in other states."

Fort Lee schools have had random drug testing for roughly five years. 
Students who participate in extracurricular activities must be 
prepared to be tested for narcotics, marijuana, cocaine and alcohol, 
said Superintendent Sharon Amato.

"We believe it's a very successful way in which to prevent substance 
abuse and send a zero-tolerance message to students," she said.

The ultimate goal of such programs is to help students make good 
choices, said Patrick Fletcher, River Dell Regional School District 
superintendent, where random drug testing has been done since 2007.

"When you give a child a mechanism to say no to drugs because it 
would put me at risk for participating in my activity, it's easier 
for them to say no to drugs."

Waldwick schools had similar success, Superintendent Patricia Raupers said.

"We had a decrease in incidents in drug and alcohol abuse," Raupers 
said. "Our students told us that we were giving them another reason 
to say no, that they could blame us. That was our intent."
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