Drug policies move one step forward

Narrow vote, numerous questions may delay full implementation

By RICHARD HANNERS / Whitefish Pilot

Whitefish School District has moved a step closer to implementing a drug-testing policy for all students in extracurricular activities, but the policy under consideration does not call for mandatory-random tests.

And with the close 4-3 school board vote, a lot of unanswered technical questions, and concerns by parents and community members, it appears unlikely the proposed policy will be in effect by the start of the next school year.

Two drug policies were approved at the June 9 school board meeting. The first allows students in extracurricular activities to sign a voluntary contract authorizing random drug-testing through the school year. Sanctions for failing could include:

? First violation, a 15-day suspension from the activity and weekly drug analysis, or suspension from the activity for the remainder of the current season and next season.

? Second violation, a 40-day suspension from the activity and reinstatement dependent on proof of the student being drug-free.

? Third violation, immediate and automatic suspension from all activities for the remainder of the student's time at the high school.

The second drug-policy covers all students in the district and provides for a suspicion-based drug policy.

"When a trained educator, counselor, school nurse or administrator develops a reasonable suspicion, the principal or his or her designated assistant may conduct drug or alcohol testing by use of a district-approved urinalysis procedure, and may conduct such further search for evidence of a violation of school rules or state law as the reasonable suspicion warrants," the policy states.

Prior admissions by students about use of drugs "shall not be deemed a factor in determining reasonable suspicion at a later date," the policy states.

Once in violation, school officials may turn students over to the police. School sanctions include required meetings with a drug counselor, and suspension or expulsion from extracurricular activities or from the school district.

A second reading on the two drug policies will take place at the July 8 school board meeting, but final approval may not take place then.

"I guarantee you a second reading won't do it," school trustee Pat Jarvi said. "There's still too many questions. It's not a done deal."

How to fund the program is one question, school board chairman David Fern said, especially with tighter school budgets every year. He also cited equal protection issues and conflicts between the proposed policies and the school handbook.

"The handbook's training rules apply only seasonally, while the proposed policy applies for the whole school year," he said.

Fern noted that steroid-use hasn't been discussed, and he emphasized the importance of how the proposed policies would be implemented.

"The opt-in policy for extracurricular students will create two distinct groups — the cool and not cool," he said. "Leadership will be very important."

He and Jarvi agreed that students may have different views on who is cool and who is not. They also emphasized the importance of establishing a "student assistance professional," as recommended by local counselors. An amendment to the opt-in policy that passed 5-2 substituted language about a quota system with reference to trained professionals helping students.

"Our number one priority is what students are doing Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.," Fern said. "We want students ready for school."

Supporters of drug testing in Whitefish schools say it works in industry and the military, but Fern and Jarvi pointed out that school is different.

"We get different kids every year," Jarvi said. "It's hard to get absolutes."

"A kid who goes to a kegger twice a year is not the same as a kid who smokes pot every day," Fern said. "Are the kids addicted or just being teenagers?"

Some opponents to drug testing have said that once students are banned for extracurricular activities, they will only get worse.

"Ideally, I'd like to see all kids participate," Fern said. "But if we can't have that, at least let them participate rather than exclude them."

"The school board would not approve a one-strike-and-you're-out policy," Jarvi said. "It's good to keep kids involved and staying busy. I would not like to see them kicked out."

Violations drive call for testing

By RICHARD HANNERS

Whitefish Pilot

The call for a stronger drug-testing policy in Whitefish School District has been growing for several years. The idea gathered momentum this year when an ad hoc committee brought a draft proposal to the school board calling for mandatory random drug-testing for all students participating in extracurricular activities.

According to a committee statement, 100 percent of the high school's coaches supported the new policy.

"The Whitefish School District has all the components in place to teach the health and safety risks of chemical-use and abuse, but the educational component does not appear to be a strong enough deterrent," the committee stated.

The committee claimed casual drug use could lead to dependency, and that "societal pressures" were stronger than education, but they cited the same incorrect statistic on marijuana-use at Whitefish High School that had been cited by several school officials.

Whitefish High School assistant principal Jeff Peck was one of those officials who said 94.7 percent of his students had self-reported using marijuana at least once in a Montana Office of Public Instruction survey. The average in Montana was 39.1 percent, while in the U.S. it was 38.2 percent.

At an April 7 forum, school officials reported the correct figure was 47.4 percent — still high but not unrealistically so. They also reported 18 drug-related arrests in 2007, double from the previous year.

Drug violations at Whitefish schools can lead to a wide variety of actions. Often, police are not called in and the matter is kept confidential.

A tally of arrests in the 2006 Whitefish police log shows 19 drug arrests of people 18-or-under. Two were under-16. This includes possession of drugs or drug paraphernalia.

The 2007 police log tally showed 20 drug arrests of people 18-or-under. Eight were under-16, and one died of an overdose — Rocky Plawman, of Happy Valley.

Two girls at Whitefish Middle School, ages 12 and 13, were arrested Feb. 22, 2007, and charged with possession of marijuana. Kerry Drown, assistant principal at the time, said several middle school students were on house arrest with electronic monitoring as a result of drug-related arrests.

"It's a small percentage of students at that extreme," Drown said at the time. "We have more than 500 students here, and probably about one percent are on probation, half a dozen or fewer."

A tally of minors-in-possession (MIPs) arrests in the police log gives a snapshot of Whitefish — a resort town notorious for fun-loving Canadians, hard-drinking fighters from around the Flathead, and a population of seasonal workers who come to Whitefish for a party as much as a job.

The 2006 police log shows 82 alcohol-related MIPs for people under-21. Two were 14- and 15-year-olds who stole alcohol from the Moose Lodge. Three were 13-year-olds who stole beer from a Second Street restaurant just a few days later.

There were 102 MIP arrests in the 2007 police log. One was a 12-year-old boy at the bowling alley, and one was a 13-year-old girl a week later at the skatepark.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1995 that schools can randomly test student-athletes for drugs. That ruling was expanded in 2002 to include all students in extracurricular activities.

No Montana statute addresses school drug-testing, but the Montana Supreme Court has upheld a high right to privacy. Other legal issues include how drug-testing records are maintained, a school district's liability if a student on drugs causes an accident, and a school district's responsibility to turn violators over to the police.

Montana Office of Public Instruction says drug-testing is up to local school districts, and several school districts in Montana have gone to drug-testing, including Anaconda, Hardin, Colstrip and Wolf Point.