South OKs random drug testing over protests

Some parents and a South board member wanted more information about the risks and other options before the policy was approved.

By: Linda Seida
   WEST AMWELL — Despite the objections of parents who called its voluntary aspect "1984 doublespeak" and "hocus pocus," the South Hunterdon Regional High School Board of Education approved a new random drug testing policy for students.
   The policy will begin in the fall and mark the first time middle school students in Hunterdon County are included in the pool of test subjects.
   After a public hearing of more than three hours, the board approved the policy 8-1. David Beaumont, who represents West Amwell, was the lone nay vote.
   Mr. Beaumont told the audience he grew up in a household of alcoholics, and he opposes the use of drugs, including alcohol and tobacco.
   However, he said, "I believe schools are in place to educate, not regulate."
   He said he went through a lot of "agonizing" and "soul searching" to arrive at his decision.
   "The pubic appears to need to hear more about the downfalls, risks, false positives and other options," he said. "I don’t see how, in good conscience, I can vote on a policy that has been described by some as incomplete."
   Among his reasons for voting against the policy is the uncertainty he thinks remains concerning "how to contain confidentiality" in the fishbowl of a small school, he said.
   Also, he said, the district already has enough to contend with in the fall, including the completion of the new construction project, numerous board goals and a new superintendent who was hired Monday to take over when Lisa Brady resigns June 30.
   The policy will apply to any student who participates in athletics or extracurricular activities and those students who drive to school. Parents also may enroll their children voluntarily, but they may not opt out if their child wants to participate in sports, an activity or obtain a parking permit.
   The pool of students who may be tested will include about 300 of the school’s 350 students. The district expects about 60 students to undergo random tests each year.
   Students who test positive will be referred for counseling.
   The program will cost the district about $1,800 a year.
   Eighth-graders Katya Kurtbek and Emily Schroeder approve of the new policy because, they said, drugs are already in South Hunterdon.
   "A lot of you guys need to wake up," said 2001 South Hunterdon graduate Amy Danese, the daughter of board member Greg Danese, who represents Stockton.
   She said drugs were a huge problem when she left South Hunterdon, and they still are.
   "I know you don’t want to believe that, but it’s happening," she said.
   At parties, "they keep pushing it on you," Emily said.
   She likes the new policy because it "gives a reason to say no."
   The random testing "doesn’t hurt you," Katya said. "It’s just something that happens randomly."
   Her mother, Dana Kurtbek, of Lambertville, said she has come to see the new policy as a tool to keep kids off drugs "whether it’s my daughter or the kid driving her home."
   Ed Fimbel, of West Amwell, said he thinks it’s a good policy because "a lot of good kids are under a lot of peer pressure." The new policy "gives them an excuse to say, ‘No, I don’t want to get involved in that.’"
   Eighth-grader Adam Warwinsky said, "If my urine in a cup is going to help save kids lives and keep kids off drugs, then I’m OK with it."
   His mother, Audrey Frankowski, of Lambertville, sounded less sure.
   At first, she said, she was "100 percent in favor" of the new policy. But she was unsure after listening to another parent’s concerns over false positives — what officials call "non-negatives" until it can be ascertained the result was caused by an illegal or prohibited substance and not by prescription medication or something else. She joined about half a dozen parents who unsuccessfully asked the board to delay its vote.
   "But I think I agree with most of the people who feel this is another tool," Ms. Frankowski said.
   Still, her concern for children who might be teased after being called out of class because of a false positive made her realize the policy could result in "serious consequences for that child."
   Ms. Frankowski said, "That will be an innocent child who could possibly be harmed for more time that we could possibly know or, as far as I’m concerned, (than is) allowable."
   "In any school when a kid gets called, there are kids (who say), ‘ooooh,’" Superintendent Lisa Brady acknowledged.
   The tests employed are "the most scientifically advanced protocol" that is also used in the military and in the workplace, according to Ms. Brady.
   "Why it would not be appropriate for our students when it is appropriate for the rest of the world, I don’t know," she said.
   James Mastrich, of Lambertville, is a drug and alcohol counselor whose son will attend South Hunterdon in the fall. He is against the random testing policy, although he said he supports the testing for cause that has long been in place.
   Mr. Mastrich asked the board to add a provision that would allow parents to opt out, excluding their children from the pool while allowing them to participate in extracurricular activities.
   "I’m not pro abuse," he said. "I’m for choice; for the rights of parents to monitor their children."
   He also said he is troubled by what he sees as the district’s "cavalier" attitude.
   He told the board, "Don’t be cavalier and say, ‘If you don’t want it, don’t participate.’ Activities are important to college applications."
   Mr. Mastrich and other parents remained upset by the "voluntary" nature of the policy.
   "It’s not voluntary," Mr. Mastrich said, calling the use of the word in this context "offensive." He said, "It’s like 1984 doublespeak."
   Steve Wolock, a member of the Lambertville Public School Board of Education, said he was in favor of the testing on a "truly voluntary basis."
   But the new policy "is not a voluntary thing at all. This is hocus pocus," he said.