(05-06) 18:09 PDT REDDING — A Northern California high school district’s drug testing of students taking part in competitive, nonathletic activities – such as the chess club, math team or school band – is an unjustified invasion of privacy, a judge ruled Wednesday in the first case of its kind in the state. The Shasta Union High School District presented no evidence that drug use was more likely or more dangerous for those students than for others, said Judge Monica Marlow of Shasta County Superior Court. She drew a distinction between students in the band or the chess club and student athletes. The state Supreme Court upheld the NCAA’s urine testing of college athletes in postseason championship events and bowl games in 1994, saying athletic competitors are accustomed to being monitored and have little expectation of privacy. Although drug testing has become both expected and accepted in sports, particularly at the college and professional level, Marlow said, “it is not a reasonably expected part of the life of a member of the choir or math club.” She issued an injunction halting a drug-testing program that the district, with headquarters in Redding, started last fall. The urine samples were screened for various illegal drugs as well as tranquilizers, alcohol and tobacco, said Michael Risher, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer representing students who challenged the program. The injunction does not affect the district’s drug testing of athletes, which began about 10 years ago. The ACLU said one of its student clients would have been barred from playing with her flute ensemble at a statewide competition later this month because she refused to be tested. Another student, who was raising a hog for a competition as part of a class project, took a drug test – which was negative – after a school administrator threatened to remove him from the Future Farmers of America, the sponsoring group, the ACLU said. “Students should not be treated like suspects because they want to play in the school band,” Risher said. He said the ruling “respects student privacy, it respects family privacy, and it teaches students that rights matter.” John Kelley, a lawyer for the district, said officials would probably appeal the ruling. Marlow’s decision applies only to the Shasta district, but an appellate decision could set a statewide precedent. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld drug testing of public school students in extracurricular activities in 2002, Kelley noted, in a ruling that recognized such tests as “a permissible step to try to protect the health, safety and welfare of students.” He said students in choirs, bands and other competitive activities are more likely than others to travel to off-campus events, some involving overnight stays, where a school’s ability to supervise them is limited. “The kids can wander the streets, go to bars, buy drugs, and it’s still the obligation of the district to supervise the students,” Kelley said. Marlow pointed out that the 2002 Supreme Court decision was based on the U.S. Constitution, which does not have an express guarantee of privacy. California voters added a right of privacy to the state Constitution in 1972. This article appeared on page B – 6 of the San Francisco Chronicle
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Drug tests for chess club? Judge says no!
