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Faculty Commentary

Krent Op-Ed on Drug Testing

Check out Dean Harold Krent’s latest op-ed, “Random testing can send students a harmful message,” which appeared in the Orlando Sentinel on Friday. Read an excerpt below:

There is no place for drugs in school, and Lake Highland Preparatory, as a private school, has every legal right to subject its students to random drug testing. Although courts have held that random drug testing in public schools violates the Fourth Amendment, private schools are not bound by the constitutional provisions constraining public schools, such as freedom of speech, freedom of religion and the right to be free from unreasonable searches.

Yet, the legality of random drug testing does not suggest its wisdom. The testing sends a poignant signal of mistrust to the school’s students. The administration at Lake Highland Prep must believe that illegal drug use is so prevalent that everyone must be subject to search.

It is not just that the administration’s testing program will generate ill will, but that the students will be less likely to confide in teachers in the future.

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