Urineschool: A study of the impact of the Earls decision on high school random drug testing policies

Journal of Law and Education, Jul 2003 by Conlon, Cynthia Kelly

B. Methodology and Data

Surveys were sent to the principals of all of the high schools in one suburban county of a large Midwestern city. Ten of these eighteen principals responded (55.5 %). The survey instrument asked the principals to identify whether they supported random drug testing or not and why. It also asked about their schools' responses to the Earls decision, their current drug abuse prevention efforts, and the likelihood that their schools would adopt random drug testing. Finally, each principal was asked to use a five-point scale44 to rate the significance of factors that might influence a decision to adopt random drug testing. Each of these ten principals was then interviewed to discuss their survey responses in depth.

Three schools (30%) reported having some form of random drug testing; seven schools did not. One of these schools began testing students who had been disciplined for previous drug violations in the fall of 2002. The other two schools have been conducting random drug testing of athletes since 1997.

Principals were decidedly mixed in their views about Earls. Four principals expressed support for the Earls decision, three opposed the decision, and three were undecided as to their level of support. Those who supported Earls stressed the deterrent value of random drug testing and the need to protect students from the dangers of drugs. Those who opposed random drug testing emphasized the violation of students' privacy and the possibility of losing students' trust. The three principals who were personally undecided varied in their responses. One principal had yet to read much about the case and was reluctant to express an opinion; one principal was torn between the need to safeguard students and the goal of creating a positive sense of community at school; the third principal was new to his school and hesitant to express his personal opinion, claiming that his view would have to be a reflection of the position that the board directed him to take.

Chart A compares each principal's position regarding random drug testing with the drug testing policy at his/her school (there was only one school with a female principal):

These data show that no school has instituted random drug testing in a situation where the principal opposes this policy. Two of the three principals at schools with random drug testing personally support it; one (who is new this year to the school) is undecided. In two schools, however, the principals support random drug testing but there is no such policy as yet.

When these two principals were questioned about their support, both emphasized the seriousness of the drug problem at their schools. As one principal said that he explained to parents, "if you think your child is not using, you're probably wrong." Both of these principals saw student drug use as increasing at their schools, with one noting that he thought that marijuana use was at a "ten-year high." One of these principals was at a school that conducted surveys to determine the level of student drug use (he stated that 80% of the students reported using drugs and/or alcohol). Only this principal, however, had an expectation that his school might actually adopt random drug testing.