Many schools to stop drug testing this year

But a few schools plan to continue testing because school officials said it deters children from drug use.

‘We feel it gives kids another reason to say no ‘ they can’t do drugs because they may be tested,’ Gallatin Athletics Director Steve Duke said. ‘To us, that’s reason enough to continue.’

Tennessee students have been tested for drugs since 1986, but Attorney General Robert E. Cooper Jr. said in an opinion issued this month that random drug testing of students participating in extracurricular activities violates a state law that requires reasonable suspicion of drug use before testing a student.

About 75 to 100 public schools across the state that are members of the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association test for drugs, said executive director Ronnie Carter. Some only test for street drugs, while others can find evidence of steroid use.

The opinion doesn’t bar schools from drug testing, but it could leave them open to court challenges, said Rich Haglund, legal counsel for the state board of education.

‘School districts will have to decide on their own if they want to continue it,’ Haglund said. ‘Before we had to decide if the law applied to extracurricular activities, but now we have someone else saying, ‘I don’t think you can do it and do it legally.’ They can keep doing it and gamble that they won’t be sued, and if they are that they will win.’

The Tennessean newspaper checked with 29 public schools in Middle Tennessee and found only five ‘ Franklin County, Gallatin, Hendersonville, Henry County and Huntland ‘ plan to continue their drug-testing programs.

Wilson County decided to suspend its program on advice from legal counsel, said director of schools Mike Davis.

‘We aren’t going to change (back to testing) until it is corrected through legislation or through our court system,’ Davis said.

Hedy Weinberg, the executive director for the Tennessee chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the organization opposes random drug testing in public schools.

‘It violates the state constitution and it’s bad public policy,’ Weinberg said. ‘Drug testing is not effective in deterring drug use among young people. It violates privacy rights of young people and it drives students away from extracurricular activities like sports and other clubs that are a proven means of allowing kids to stay away from trouble with drugs.’

Two separate U.S. Supreme Court rulings were in favor of the drug testing of athletes, but Tennessee’s privacy law is stricter than federal law.

‘It’s not a question on what federal privacy rights provide,’ University of Memphis associate professor of law Steve Mulroy said. ‘It’s a question if Tennessee, in its wisdom, provided more protection.’

Mulroy said if a school felt strongly, it should continue testing and wait for someone to be sued, although it could potentially end up costing a school.

‘If someone did sue, the nature of liability (if they won) would have to be determined,’ Mulroy said. ‘There could be some sort of money damages. I’m not sure how offensive it would be. They may have to pay the other attorneys fees, and there would be an injunction to cease testing.’

Wilson Central senior Brittany Farmer, a manager on the girls basketball team and a member of the bowling team, said the testing was an effective deterrent for her.

‘I’ve gone to a lot of parties where I’ve tried to keep myself away from a certain situation because of it,’ Farmer said. ‘I know a lot of athletes feel the same way. They don’t want to go to a place where drugs or alcohol might be because they might be tested.

‘I think testing keeps a lot of students in a clear path. Without, I think things will go down hill.’