School district drug policies

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School district drug policies are measures that teachers and administrators of a school put into place in order to discourage drug use by students. Within the last twenty years, primary and secondary school drug and alcohol policies have become increasingly restrictive, using very severe methods of punishment. Some school districts have even gone as far as including student's behavior off campus and after school in their policy's jurisdiction.

The main issues of concern are:

Student Civil Rights
Student Privacy
Suspension of Civil Rights on Campuses
Involvement of Parents and Police

Urban school districts saw widespread implementation of comprehensive Drug and Alcohol policies starting in the mid-1980s. Although small town school districts have generally been slower to adopt these measures, teenage drug use has not spared rural and suburban schools either.

[edit] Case study

In late 2001, in small-town Ashland, Oregon, the Ashland School Board enacted a Drug and Alcohol Policy for leadership students that created a firestorm of controversy. The local Oregon ACLU had advocated on behalf of various students expelled by the Ashland School District for drug use in May 2001 at a national forensics tournament and rallied again to protect the students from an unconstitutional invasion of their privacy. This landmark battle for student’s rights was the first of many similar incidents across the country.

Students at Ashland Senior High School argued that their off campus behavior after school hours should have no effect on their academic standing. In a statement to the local press, Ashland Senior High School Student Body Co-President Brady Brim-DeForest said "Teaching kids not to use and abuse drugs and alcohol is a family thing. Ultimately, it's a student's own personal choice."

Eventually, the Code of Conduct was rewritten and the controversy led to a full scale re-evaluation of the School District's entire Drug and Alcohol Policy. In order to reach consensus however, a community committee was formed, which met consecutively for five months.

A significant point against the use of drug testing in schools is the Fifth Amendment; where providing a urine sample is providing evidence against oneself.

Case Study News Coverage