DRUG POLICY CHANGE MULLED

A lawsuit filed late last month is spurring a proposal to change the
Fairbanks North Star Borough School District's policy on drugs and alcohol
in the schools.

The school board is slated to take vote on an emergency policy change at
tonight's meeting.

The new policy would increase the penalty for students who are caught for
the first time using or possessing alcohol or drugs at school. Those
students would face a 10-day suspension rather than the current five.

In addition, the penalty for refusing to take a urinalysis would mirror
that of getting caught with drugs or alcohol. Under the current policy, a
student can be expelled for 90 days for refusing to take the test.

If the board passes the change, it would go into effect this school year.
"I really thought five days was too little punishment," Superintendent Ann
Shortt said of the penalty for using or possessing drugs or alcohol.

As for students who refuse to take the test, she said, "We are going to
treat the refusal as the person being guilty."

The proposal comes after North Pole High School student Anthony Frey and
his father Martin Frey filed suit against the district and school staff.
The lawsuit claims that the drug and alcohol testing policy and its use of
rapid eye exams and orders for urinalysis are a breach of the
constitutional protection against unreasonable search and seizure.

The suit says that the younger Frey was ordered to take a rapid eye exam
and then a urinalysis. When his father refused to have Frey take the latter
test, the suit says the teen was expelled for the first 90 days of this
school year. That penalty was later reduced to five days.

In a letter to Shortt regarding the policy, attorney James DeWitt compared
the drug and alcohol policies to drunken driving laws. In some states, the
penalty for refusing a breath test is equal to that of driving under the
influence, he says. In others the refusal penalty is double that assigned
for DUI. However, the district's drug and alcohol policy provides a penalty
for refusal that is up to 18 times greater than the penalty for the actual
offense.

"The disparity between the punishment for failing a test and for refusing
to take the test is likely too great to withstand court review," DeWitt
wrote. "Stated simply, the injury to the school district is not 18 times
greater if a student refuses a test."

The changes could affect many students, as Shortt said the alcohol and drug
policy is used often in schools.

"I would imagine that most schools would be using it every week," she said.
"This is not one of these policies that we pull out every semester."

In addition to the proposed changes, Shortt said she plans to ask the
school board to appoint a task force to study the district's drug, alcohol
and discipline policies.

"Even without the lawsuit being filed, it is time for us to review where we
are and where we need to go," she said.

In other business, the board is scheduled to vote on a change to the policy
that sets the eligibility rules for secondary student activities. The
revision would eliminate the clause that allows special education students'
Individual Education Plan teams to determine eligibility.