Despite Concerns, More High Schools Test for Alcohol

Graduation Day at Tustin High School took on an uncommon--and some say ominous--turn in 1993, when administrators began giving Breathalyzer tests to some seniors before handing out diplomas.

The testing was part of a crackdown on disruptive graduates who appeared to be drunk when they arrived for the ceremony. But educators abruptly dropped the practice earlier this year after parents and some school board members complained that testing students was too extreme.

“Drinking had become a problem, and doing the analysis was a way of dealing with it,” said Mark Eliot, communications director for the Tustin Unified School District. “Clearly, some people thought it was a negative approach.”

Despite the concerns, several other school districts in Orange County are experimenting with Breathalyzer machines as they struggle to combat alcohol use by students at dances, athletic events and other school activities.

Issues related to breath testing are being raised as students, parents and educators debate the merits of “zero tolerance” alcohol use policies in schools.

The debate is particularly fierce in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, where a group of Estancia High School soccer players were transferred to another school after drinking beer during a summer tournament.

Breath testing is “not going to stop teen alcohol consumption, but it could make students think twice about having that beer before the football game,” said Lynne Bloomberg, alcohol and drug specialist for Newport-Mesa.

One of the district’s schools, Newport Harbor High, is considering breath testing at some sporting events. “We want to make our school events as safe as possible for students and school staff,” Bloomberg said.

But experts said random testing raises a host of legal questions that the courts have not yet fully examined.

“When you look at searches of students by school district employees, the standard is reasonable suspicion,” said Val Fadley, an attorney with the Orange County Department of Education. “You can’t search without reasonable suspicion that a student has committed an illegal act.”

Courts have ruled that blood-alcohol analysis amounts to a search, making random Breathalyzer testing legally questionable. But courts have upheld random drug tests of student athletes because of the safety issues involved.

“So far, that decision has not been extended to all students,” Fadley said. “We don’t know all the answers.”

Todd Ferguson, a Tustin school board member, said that the graduation sobriety checks were effective but that the district dropped the practice because of legal concerns.

Under the program, students who tested positive were prohibited from attending the graduation as well as the party afterward. In addition, they were required to have a conference with administrators before receiving their diplomas.

The district now posts administrators at the ceremony to watch for graduates who might be drunk.

“At some point in time, we need to consider the rights of the rest of the students who attend these events and not just the few people who misbehave,” Ferguson said.

While the Tustin testing was random, other schools have taken a different approach. At El Toro High School, administrators bring a Breathalyzer machine to some dances but test only the students they suspect of being drunk.

Principal Jack Clement said that the school has not administered a sobriety exam in two years but that the threat of testing “seems to have a deterrent effect.”

Testing large numbers of students would be impractical, Clement said, because each exam requires the use of a disposable breath cartridge. “Aside from that, we are also very sensitive to civil rights issues and certainly don’t want to violate anyone’s rights,” he said.

In Tustin, the end of the graduation sobriety tests has officials focusing on less controversial ways of preventing student drinking.

One successful effort is Grad Night, an alcohol-free overnight campus party sponsored by parents. The event draws scores of seniors, some of whom might otherwise spend the evening getting drunk, officials said.

“Breath analysis might have had a negative image,” Eliot said. “We want to focus on positive approaches that give students an alternative to drinking.”

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More Student Testing

Here are some tactics that local school districts are using to detect and prevent drug and alcohol use by students:

* Breathalyzer tests at school dances and athletic events.

* Drug-sniffing dogs to examine lockers and school buses.

* Random drug testing of student athletes.

* Questioning students who appear drunk at school or at campus events.

* Displaying wreckage of cars involved in drunk-driving accidents.

Sources: School districts, Times reports; Researched by SHELBY GRAD / Los Angeles Times