Published: January 26, 2009

The Henry County Board of Education will consider a policy Thursday providing for random drug-testing of students involved in extracurricular activities.

The proposed policy would subject all students participating in extracurricular activities to random drug tests. Students who test positive for drugs would be suspended from extracurricular activities and encouraged to seek counseling, but would not face disciplinary action.

Henry County School Superintendent Dennis Coe said the proposed policy is intended to help students avoid drug use, and is not meant to be punitive. Coe said he proposed limiting the policy to students participating in extracurricular activities because current case law supports random drug testing of athletes, cheerleaders, band members, etc. Random testing of the general student population might not hold up in court.

“Legally, right now it’s uncharted territory, and we don’t want to be the one to provide anyone with a test case,” Coe said.

Coe said he would like to eventually expand the program to randomly test students whose parents want them tested.

The Henry County Schools do not randomly drug test teachers or support personnel. Bus drivers and employees with a commercial driver’s license are subject to random drug tests.

Tim Lynch, with the Cato Institute, a libertarian thinktank, opposes random drug tests of students. Lynch said the policy was hypocritical because teachers and administrators aren’t going to be tested too.

“I think it’s a sign of disrespect toward the students, its treating them like prisoners rather than students,” he said.