Testing Not On Horizon Ruling Doesn’t Result In Area Schools Rushing To Start Programs

There seem to be few ripples, so far, from an early summer decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to allow drug testing of high school athletes.

Colfax is the only area school known to have taken steps toward a possible drug-testing program, and those have been only preliminary moves.

“We’ve had maybe 10 phone calls, all from the press, none from the schools,” said John Olson, assistant executive director/legal counsel for the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association.

Responding to a case in Oregon, the Supreme Court ruled that it is constitutional for schools to have a random drug-testing policy for athletes because students don’t have the same privacy rights as adults.

“I think schools are pretty satisfied with the programs they have in place,” Olson said.

Most schools already make all students involved in co-curricular activities sign some kind of code of conduct, which includes a pledge not to use drugs and alcohol.

Coeur d’Alene athletic director Larry Schwenke is concerned that schools might have a knee-jerk reaction to the Supreme Court’s decision.

He appreciates the high court’s concerns, but said, “Personally, I think we can always do a better job helping kids with those choices (regarding drinking and drugs), and the athletic code is a step toward that.”

Mike Howson, principal at Lewis and Clark High School, said the subject has been brought up and some District 81 school board members were checking into it. He said the most likely direction for schools to take is to renew emphasis on the activities contracts students and parents sign.

Schwenke said that in time CdA and other schools will be looking at the issue. Like Howson, he doesn’t believe that the athletic code deals wholly with the issue, but it’s a place to start.

Because of the mid-June timing of the decision, few schools have given much consideration to the ruling.

“There hasn’t been any conversation,” said Ferris activities coordinator Ray Hare, who is also president of the statewide athletic directors association. “It came down early in the summer. No one’s had a chance to talk about it in a group setting.”

Colfax would appear to be the exception.

“We’re right at the first steps. I’m not able to predict where it will end up at this point,” Colfax superintendent Don Cox said. “We’ve had meetings with coaches (grades 7 through 12). They are endorsing putting together some kind of drug testing for athletes and doing it on the basis that they want athletes to be a model of life for young kids. They want to be able to certify they are (role models).”

Exactly what it would take to develop an acceptable drug-testing policy is unknown.

Cox knows the school board and parents would need to be involved in the process. He also knows that questions about expense, timeliness and what drugs would or could be tested for, need to be answered.

Olson said, “Washington has a tendency to focus on state law when they deal with issues such as this.”

He suggested contacting district attorneys when drafting a policy for drug testing.

“The sentiment is there to do it and do it responsibly,” Cox said. “In reality, it will probably be this time next year before testing the first one, but we wouldn’t automatically wait that long if we could get things to fall into place.”

Schwenke and others are concerned the Supreme Court decision singled out athletics, while Cox said other school groups might be included once a policy is developed.

“The notion is, let’s start this with the athletes,” Cox said. “That’s not saying it won’t include the band, or FFA, or any other group that represents the school district or the community.

“There’s a lot more that we don’t know at this point. What we’re going to try to do is responsibly follow the sentiments of the community, that they want to hold their athletes to a higher standard.”

, DataTimes