Law & Courts News in Brief

Girl, 11, Sues District Over Drug Testing

By The Associated Press — March 27, 2012 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

A central Pennsylvania middle school student is suing her district over a drug-testing policy that’s required if she wants to participate in choir and other activities.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania last week filed the lawsuit on behalf of the 11-year-old girl and her parents. The group says the policy violates privacy rights under the state constitution and wants a court to prevent the Solanco school district from enforcing it.

The lawsuit says the 6th grader at Swift Middle School was removed from the orchestra and chorus and can’t participate in athletic or academic teams, because she won’t consent to having her urine screened on a random basis by school officials.

A message left for school officials wasn’t immediately returned.

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the March 28, 2012 edition of Education Week as Girl, 11, Sues District Over Drug Testing

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
College & Workforce Readiness Webinar
From Coursework to Careers: Expanding Work-Based Learning and Industry Credentials in CTE
Expand work-based learning and industry credentials in CTE to connect classroom learning with real careers and prepare students for future success.
Content provided by Project Lead The Way
College & Workforce Readiness Webinar Data-Driven and District-Ready: What EdWeek Research Tells Us About the CTE Market
Discover how to sharpen your positioning in a fast-moving market of CTE with actionable strategies grounded in EdWeek Research Center data.
Classroom Technology Live Online Discussion A Seat at the Table: The Rewiring of Childhood With Jonathan Haidt
Jonathan Haidt, Catherine Price, and Adam Swinyard join Peter DeWitt on how to get students off devices and back to the basics of childhood.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Law & Courts Federal Judge Strikes Down Trump's $100,000 Fee on New H-1B Visas
Schools and states say filling teacher and doctor vacancies was hard enough before the fee hike.
3 min read
President Donald Trump talks with reporters before boarding Air Force One at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, early on June 9, 2026, as Environmental Protection Agency director Lee Zeldin, left, and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum listen.
President Donald Trump talks with reporters before boarding Air Force One at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York early on June 9, 2026 as Environmental Protection Agency director Lee Zeldin, left, and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum listen. A federal judge in Boston has struck down Trump's elevated, $100,000 fee for H-1B visas that employers use to hire foreign workers for hard-to-fill positions.
Mark Schiefelbein/AP
Law & Courts Opinion Why the Supreme Court’s Ruling on Conversion Therapy Matters for Schools
A recent case puts religiously motivated speech ahead of the well-being of LGBTQ+ youth.
Jonathon E. Sawyer
5 min read
lgbtq student backpack with rainbow spectrum flag on stairs isolated
Education Week + iStock/Getty
Law & Courts Birthright Citizenship Case Raises Stakes for Schools and Undocumented Students
Educators are paying close attention to the case on Trump's birthright citizenship order.
10 min read
President Donald Trump signs an executive order on birthright citizenship in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Jan. 20, 2025.
President Donald Trump signs an executive order on birthright citizenship in the Oval Office of the White House on Jan. 20, 2025. The order, now before the U.S. Supreme Court, seeks to limit citizenship for some children born in the United States to immigrant parents without permanent legal status.
Evan Vucci/AP
Law & Courts Appeals Court Revives Lawsuit Over 1st Grader’s Black Lives Matter Drawing
A court revived a 1st grader 's claim she was punished for giving a drawing to a Black classmate.
4 min read
Seen is the drawing made by Viejo Elementary School first-grader B.B. that was entered into evidence. B.B. gave the drawing to her classmate, M.C., who is African American. M.C. thanked B.B.
Pictured is a drawing by a 1st grader in California and given to a Black classmate that is at the center of a First Amendment legal challenge over the student's alleged punishment.
U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit