Star-Tribune Editorial Board

The decision by 58 Goshen County students and their families to sue their local school district over a new random drug testing policy was by far the most controversial Wyoming story last week on our Web site, trib.com. By Friday, a Wednesday article about the policy had drawn nearly 90 responses from readers strongly representing widely different views.

Many readers claimed the policy, instituted 8-1 in April by the Goshen County School District Board of Trustees, is blatantly unconstitutional. Critics of the board said it violated the students' Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable search and seizure.

Supporters of the board primarily focused on the positive aspects of the policy to fight drug and alcohol abuse, which should be the school district's goal. An oft-repeated question of the students was, "What have they got to hide?" But that's not the underlying issue here.

Reasonable people can disagree about the wisdom of drug testing in schools. Some object to teaching students the lesson that one is "guilty until proven innocent" through testing. Others point out that all students should have the right to be educated in a safe, drug- and alcohol-free environment.

We choose not to debate the merits of the tests themselves. What seems obvious, however, is that while lower courts have been all over the map in their reviews of such cases, the U.S. Supreme Court has quite clearly upheld policies similar to the Goshen County School District's.

Goshen County requires all students who are in grades 7-12 and involved in extracurricular activities to agree to random drug and alcohol testing. Students who don't sign a form agreeing to the testing by a company contracted by the district won't be allowed to participate in activities including sports, cheerleading, marching band and drama, to name just a few.

In 1995, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the drug testing of student athletes at an Oregon school was not a violation of the Fourth Amendment. The court noted the state's interest in preventing drug addiction among students, and that student athletes have a decreased expectation of privacy and are at risk for physical harm if practicing sports while intoxicated.

So the sports aspect of Goshen's policy has already been decided by the highest court in the nation. What about other activities?

In 2002, the Supreme Court went further and upheld an Oklahoma school's drug testing policy for students involved in extracurricular programs other than sports. Writing for the majority, Justice Clarence Thomas stated, "We find that testing students who participate in extracurricular activities is a reasonably effective means of addressing the school district's legitimate concerns in preventing, deterring and detecting drug use."

The ruling was 5-4, but the "swing" vote by Justice Anthony Kennedy would likely still be cast in the same manner today. The Wyoming Supreme Court could come to a different conclusion, but it would almost certainly be overturned by the federal court on appeal. The policy has been determined to be constitutional.

Those students and parents who are suing the district should be aware that participating in extracurricular school activities is a privilege, not a right, and that the school district is entitled to make drug testing a requirement for participation. This is a legal battle that could be very costly to both sides, and one in which the plaintiffs have little chance to prevail.

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Our view

The U.S. Supreme Court has already upheld a drug testing policy similar to the Goshen County School District's.

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Editorial Board

Nathan Bekke, publisher

Chad Baldwin, editor

Kerry Drake, opinion editor

Sally Ann Shurmur, community news editor

Ron Gullberg, managing editor