There are better ways to tackle drug woes
The first word that comes to mind is misguided. The next is wasteful.
Officials in South Butler County School District are proposing the school board approve a policy requiring Knoch High School students who drive to school and those who participate in extracurricular activities such as band or sports to submit to drug testing.
We are well aware of the toll this region is suffering from the abuse of both prescription and illegal drugs, but casting this wide a net – we’re talking two-thirds of the high school’s students – is both wasteful and most likely ineffective.
It’s our belief that kids who are involved in extracurricular activities are probably less likely than others in the student body to engage in drug use.
And if students are using drugs, they can avoid testing simply by dropping out of any extra activities and taking the bus to school.
The district wants parents to ante up for initial drug tests of their children at the beginning of the school year, at about $30 per test. Then there will be random urine tests of these kids throughout the school year, for which the district expects to pay about $45,000.
First, we don’t think parents who already are paying taxes to the district should be expected to shell out money for the initial tests, and it seems as if the district could find better ways to spend the $45,000 required for the follow-up testing. Second, what becomes of students who test positive? Would they be tossed out of marching band or off their sports teams? Would they be expelled? And would those punishments really be the best way to address any drug problems that exist?
District officials say there are U.S. Supreme Court rulings that back up their legal right to impose the tests. We don’t question that it’s legal. But is it the smartest way to combat drug use by students?