Lawmaker Wants To Let Schools Test For Drug Use Kempton Proposes Measure To Bypass Parental Consent

Public schools could test students for drug use without telling parents under an Albion lawmaker’s proposal.

Republican Rep. Jim Kempton said the measure would address the concerns of teachers who fear singling out students for counseling or drug testing might lead to lawsuits.

“We’re bogged down where we can’t move these kids into Health and Welfare substance-abuse programs or move them into the juvenile justice system,” he said. “This is an attempt to break that barrier, and we have to do it.”

Kempton’s bill would allow teachers trained and certified in recognizing drug-abuse symptoms - such as plummeting grades or erratic behavior - to pull suspected drug users out of class. Administrators also trained to spot drug abuse would decide whether to send the students for drug tests that day.

Parents could still sue for civil rights violations. But under Kempton’s bill, certification of teachers would allow school officials to argue they had reasonable cause to test students.

In addition, the state would take on the legal responsibility for the drug testing - teachers, counselors and administrators could not be sued individually. The state would foot the bill for positive drug tests and local school districts would pay for tests that turned out negative.

But a civil rights advocate has a problem with Kempton’s proposal.

“Once again, students are being treated as having no rights,” said Jack Van Valkenburgh, director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho. “How would you, as an adult, like to pee in a cup every time your employer said he has reasonable cause? What is reasonable cause? What does it mean? I hope there are standards so that students who simply have long hair or disagree with a teacher aren’t targeted for drug testing.”

Kempton said he expects his bill to be controversial.

“But the whole issue with drugs is controversial,” he said. “It’s not an attempt to thwart parental interests, but it very definitely is a means of bypassing that to test students when that student appears to be under the influence of drugs.”