District 95 ponders next step toward installing drug testing

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Updated: August 4, 2011 4:20PM

Discussions about potentially drug testing Lake Zurich High School students involved in extracurricular activities or who park their cars at the school have stalled.

At the May 19 Lake Zurich Community Unit School District 95 Board meeting, board members discussed the need to host a special meeting to discuss the issue but differed on whether summer was an appropriate time to schedule a meeting.

“I don’t want to do it over the summer because we’ve had things (over the summer) where people felt they didn’t get an opportunity to provide input,” said Board President Kathy Brown, adding it was important for transparency purposes that the meeting is scheduled at a time when parents are able to attend and that with vacations, summer may not be the best time. “It feels like the perfect thing for the start of the year.”

Board Member Tony Pietro disagreed and said that summer would be a great time to have such a meeting because the meeting schedule isn’t too busy.

For the past two years, the School Board has discussed implementing a drug testing program for students involved in extracurricular activities or who park their cars on campus. This year, the School Board was presented with options for drug testing and used a survey to inquire about community support. District officials said the survey found that about 72 percent of those surveyed supported a drug testing program, but many had concerns as to how the program would be implemented.

During the Public Comment, Lake Zurich parent Keith Petropoulos expressed a vehement disapproval of the district moving forward with such a plan, calling it an attack on liberty.

“Each of you must look in your hearts and ask why you’re pursuing this course of action,” Petropoulos said. “Do you have the spirit to come up with something positive to improve the lives of students? Imposing this drug testing will be divisive in this community. You may have the power to proceed, but you do not have the right.”

How to run the program has also been a huge part of the School Board’s questions surrounding the program. Board members have expressed that they want the program to be a deterrent, not consequential, and rather than punish students who test positive, to instead get them help. The district has moved forward with the hiring of a special assistance program coordinator, who will be in charge of creating drug awareness programs within the high school and middle schools.

Superintendent Mike Egan said administration hasn’t yet been able to come up with a way to make a drug testing program a deterrent without there being consequences for a positive test.

“We can come up with a procedure, but we do need direction on if this will be within the code of conduct or make it a separate piece,” Egan said.

Brown said she will contact all members of the School Board to try and find a date where members are available for a meeting to discuss the next steps.

“I believe we need to go out with a proposal and maybe the summer is the best time to work on that proposal,” Board Member Jim Burke suggested.