Reference no: EM131702456

Question: Wahkiakum School District required its student athletes to refrain from using or possessing alcohol or illegal drugs. Beginning in 1994, the school district implemented myriad ways to combat drug and alcohol use among the student population. Nevertheless, drug and alcohol problems persisted. Acting independently of the school district, the Wahkiakum Community Network (community network) began surveying district students. From these surveys, the community network ranked teen substance abuse as the number one problem in Wahkiakum County. The community network's surveys showed that in 1998, 40 percent of sophomores reported previously using illegal drugs and 19 percent of sophomores reported illegal drug use within the previous 30 days, while 42 percent of seniors reported previously using illegal drugs and 12.5 percent reported illegal drug use within the previous 30 days. As a result, the school district decided to implement random drug testing, where all students may be tested initially and then subjected to random drug testing during the remainder of the season. The school district formed the Drug and Alcohol Advisory Committee (now the "Safe and Drug Free Schools Advisory Committee") to help deal with the student substance abuse problems. The committee evaluated the effectiveness of its previous programs, and contemplated adopting Policy 3515, which would require random drug testing of student athletes. Parents sued to block the policy. On balance, which concern should be accorded greater judicial weight, preventing drug abuse or student-athletes' privacy rights? Does the balance change if the athletes are NCAA Division I athletes at a major university? Does the balance change if the athletes are professional athletes employed by major league teams? See York v. Wahkiakum School District, 163 Wash.2d 297, 178 P.3d 995 (2008).