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OPINIONS
Editorial: Drug testing policy should be same for students, school employees
Assistant principal David Baisden and basketball coach Lloyd McGuffin hand out consent forms to athletes and student drivers prior to an orientation session about the countyÕs new drug testing policy Wednesday, July 30, 2008, at Huntington High School. Students from Huntington High School and Cabell Midland High School must attend the session before they can take the field, hit the gyms or park on campus.
Purchase this photoStudents at Huntington High School and Cabell Midland High School had their first dealings Wednesday with Cabell County schools' new drug testing policy.
Information about the testing program and consent forms were distributed to students and parents at drug-testing orientation sessions at the two schools. All students who participate in athletics or who drive to school must agree to submit to random drug testing.
Todd Alexander, administrative assistant over secondary schools, said he expects about 2,000 of the 3,200 students anticipated to be enrolled in the two high schools to be in the random pool.
Alexander said the policy will be random from the start. At no point, he said, will every student eligible for the random pool be initially tested.
The test will look for marijuana, cocaine, phencyclidine, opiates, methadone, methamphetamine, amphetamine, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, tricyclic antidepressants and alcohol. The tests also are capable of picking up traces of prescription drugs and steroids. The test can detect the presence of materials found in products whose sellers claim are able to clean drugs and alcohol from the body.
So far, most parents and students appear to support the drug testing policy, or they don't object to it. They do note that students who don't participate in sports or who don't have access to a car will not be tested, and that could be unfair. Parents, though, may choose to have their children included in the testing pool even if they are not athletes and do not drive.
However, some have said they want some reassurances that their children are not being singled out unfairly.
In all the talk by the school administration about testing students, there has been little or no talk about testing teachers, coaches or other school employees who come in contact with the children. It's as though the children are expected to be drug-free, but the adults are given a free pass.
The school administration needs to do a better job telling the public what it expects of its employees. If teachers, coaches and others are tested before employment but not randomly throughout the year, students would be right to think they are being picked on unfairly. If employees are subject to the same random testing, students and parents will see the policy as fair.
The school system has set a precedent with the student testing policy. If students are to be tested randomly, so should teachers and others who come in daily contact with students. Sauce for the gander, you know.
The new testing policy may be one of many necessary steps to reduce the use of illegal drugs by students, but it must be fair and it must be seen as fair if it is to have any credibility.
