Vernonia School District v. Acton (47J)

In an effort to counteract what was perceived as a rise of illegal drug use among its students, the Vernonia School District searched for an effective antidrug policy. Given the high prestige of student athletes, the school district decided to focus its antidrug abuse efforts within its interscholastic athletic programs. After consultation with the district's parents, a Student Athlete Drug Policy was adopted for implementation in the fall of 1989. The policy mandated that all participants in interscholastic athletic programs and their parents agree to submit to a drug search program involving an initial urinalysis at the beginning of the practice season and random urinalyses throughout the competitive year. The school district agreed not to make positive test results public, and any athlete producing a positive test would be retested before any action was taken. Upon a second positive result, the athlete's parents would be notified and the athlete would be given the choice of entering a treatment program including weekly urinalysis or a two-year suspension from interscholastic athletics. Vernonia's parents were nearly unanimously in favor of the policy.