Since schools are where the kids are—or should be—most of the time, they are often the setting for the discovery of the drug problem or for conflicts because of it. Parents sometimes saddle them with both the blame and the responsibility. Yet, as an administrator points out, although “the parents think the schools should crack down on drugs and the schools and cops think it is the parents’ job, the truth is, none of us can do it alone.” Essentially, the schools are responsible for what happens in school and on their grounds and the police are called in only as a last resort or if a crime has been committed. Once in a while, they go into the schools as undercover agents to expose extensive drug dealing, but in general, they stay away. Parents, on the other hand, are intimately involved with the school’s impact on their children’s lives.

To be able to act effectively, parents should be aware of the legal background behind what the school may and may not do. Local and state regulations differ, but there are some federal rules that apply to all schools:

? It is a federal crime to sell drugs in or near a public or private school.
? Schools can make unannounced searches of lockers, rest rooms, and “smoking areas,” particularly if school policy on these matters was written and distributed at the start of the school year.
? Schools may, under certain circumstances, search students and their lockers with less stringent requirements than the police are required to use, but must still follow “reasonable guidelines.” The legality of the search may depend on the reason for it and how intrusive it is.
? Student athletes may be required to submit to random drug testing.
? Schools may expel or discipline a student without waiting for the outcome of court proceedings.
? If the school wants to suspend a child for a short time because of behavior related to drug or alcohol use, the child and his parents have the right to know the charges and what evidence the school has, and to present their side of the story and question witnesses at an informal conference.
? If the suspension is for a longer time, a formal hearing must be held, with an impartial person hearing the charges and the opportunity for cross-examination of witnesses. (In some states, if your child is suspended for more than ten days and is too young to be finished with school legally, an alternative education must be provided.)

Private schools, too, must follow these rules. In some, the policy is that a child caught with drugs or alcohol should have a second chance and should not be expelled. But as one headmaster put it, “We think he should have a second chance—but at another school.”

Several gray areas still exist. One is the responsibility of schools to alert parents if they suspect drug use or if the child seems seriously depressed. In the matter of drug testing of students, too, the verdict is not yet in. The Supreme Court ruled in 1995 that student athletes could be required to submit to random tests, but did not address the question of testing for other students. One major school district did not wait for definitive answers. Routine drug raids at football games that turned up drug vials and led to arrests galvanized the Dade County school system is Florida to institute a six-month pilot program of random drug testing—with parental permission—of all students. Questions have been raised about the possible violation of civil liberties, but it is still too early to know if an avalanche of lawsuits will result. One board member defended the program by saying, “The invasion of privacy is minimal in contrast to the benefit we gain in deterring drug use. Why not do everything we can?”

Parents as well as students have certain rights. If your child is having trouble in school and you feel he or she is not being treated fairly, you have the right to inspect school records and to have a hearing to correct what you think are inaccuracies. Sometimes this right presents school personnel with a dilemma. Does a counselor who is seeing your child have to tell all? Some guidance programs sidestep this privacy question by using informal notes, rather than formal records. These notes do not have to be revealed. This shutting out is hard to accept but may be necessary if your child is to continue to rust the person who is treating him or her.

In order to release records to another person or agency, your written permission or that of the student may be required. Confidentiality also applies if your child is or has been in treatment, and if information is requested by the police. What a teacher or other school employee sees and hears, however, is not part of the formal record and therefore is not protected against disclosure. For instance, if a teacher sees a girl pass a joint of marijuana to another girl in the lunchroom, the teacher may tell the police. Evidence gathered if a student’s purse or pockets are searched may also be turned over.