August 2006
Just saying no to drug testing . . . Although recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions have supported the constitutionality of mandatory drug testing in public schools, superintendents have been reluctant to adopt such policies.
"There has not been an avalanche of drug testing policies following the two Supreme Court decisions," says Todd DeMitchell, the study’s lead author and a professor at the University of New Hampshire. "The superintendents are seemingly reluctant to adopt such policies just because the court has given a green light to such tests."
The study, published in Education Law Reporter, surveyed 400 superintendents with a high school in their district. Only 11.6% of the school districts surveyed had adopted such policies, while an additional 10% are considering adopting such a policy. The districts that reported having adopted drug testing policies tended to be rural and small.
Four major factors were found to influence superintendents’ decisions on adopting drug testing policies: personal viewpoint, the viewpoint of the school board, research, and court decisions.
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