Federal court upholds college's drug tests for students

Federal court upholds college's drug tests for students

A technical college in central Missouri can require all students to take drug tests, a federal appeals court panel ruled.

The St. Louis-based 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued its 2-1 ruling Monday. At issue was a lawsuit the American Civil Liberties Union filed after the State Technical College of Missouri in Linn began drug testing all first-year students and some returning students in 2011.

"From day one, our motivation was to do what was best for our students," the college's president, Don Claycomb, said in a statement.

The ACLU claimed the school's widespread drug testing violated students' Fourth Amendment rights against unlawful searches and seizures.

A federal judge ruled in 2013 the two-year technical school could use drug tests only in five specific programs.

The appeals court ruled the decision was too narrow.

Judge C. Arlen Beam said in the appellate ruling that testing of the entire student population was reasonable and constitutional. He wrote the college's 1,200 students "are primarily engaged in safety-sensitive and potentially dangerous curriculum due to the unique nature of this particular vocational and technical college and its limited focus."

The Southeast Hospital College of Nursing and Health Sciences in Cape Girardeau requires all students to take and pay for a drug test before admission. It tests for all illegal drugs and any prescription medicines for which that the prospective student does not have a prescription.

The school lets all students know about the test before the completion of admission paperwork, and there are no subsequent test once the student is enrolled, according to B.J. Whissen, dean of nursing.

The Cape Girardeau Career and Technical Center has no drug testing policy and, for now, is not looking to implement one after the 8th Circuit Court's Ruling, according to Cape Girardeau School District communications officer Dana Saverino.

"At this time, we haven't even looked at this," Saverino said of the court ruling.

Messages seeking comment from the ACLU's St. Louis office Wednesday were not returned.

Southeast Missourian reporter Ben Kleine contributed to this story.