Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Schools

Schools say no to drug testing

By TOM MARSHALL
Published December 14, 2006

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.

Tom Marshall can be reached at tmarshall@sptimes.com or (352) 848-1431.

[Last modified December 14, 2006, 06:38:47]