Dist. 95 parents to be asked about drug testing

Lake Zurich Unit District 95 parents soon will be asked how they feel about student drug testing.

An electronic survey should be distributed next week, district spokeswoman Jean Malek said Friday. Paper surveys will be available for families without e-mail accounts.

The survey hasn’t been created yet, but it probably will be relatively short, Malek said, perhaps with fewer than 12 questions.

The questions are being developed by District 95 officials with assistance from the Ela Coalition Against Youth Substance Abuse.

The goal of the survey is to get feedback from parents about a plan to test some Lake Zurich High School students for illegal drug use.

Drug testing is not being considered for the district’s seven other schools.

Federal law prohibits public schools from forcing all students to take drug tests, but the courts have allowed schools to require students involved in clubs, athletics or other extracurricular activities to submit to drug testing.

District 95 officials floated the idea of a random drug-testing program in November. No decision has been made.

Board members have said parents could be offered a chance to voluntarily sign up their kids for testing if the teens aren’t involved in after-school activities.

Antioch and Lakes high schools, which are in the same district, are among the Lake County schools with drug-testing programs.

The survey results should be presented to the board during a committee-of-the-whole meeting on March 10, Malek said.