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The Aliquippa High School Football program isn’t just one of the most storied programs in Pennsylvania; it’s one of the most storied programs in the entire nation.
The Quips have five PIAA state championships to their name, including a recent run of three in five years that led to the state forcing them to move up multiple classifications. Additionally, Aliquippa is the only high school in America with three Pro Football Hall of Famers: Mike Ditka, Ty Law, and Darelle Revis.
But a controversial new drug testing policy threatens to put that dynastic run in jeopardy.
Aliquippa Introduces Highly Debated New Drug Testing Policy For Athletics
At the school district’s recent curriculum night, it introduced a new policy that requires students to pass a drug test before participating in any athletic events.
“Participation is a privilege,” is the message coming from the district, which plans to test for recreational drugs, not performance-enhancing drugs.
The policy, which is aimed at rooting out underage drug use, came under immense scrutiny from members of the community.
“I’m kind of 50-50 on the whole thing, I guess,” Douglas Lowe told local news station WPXI. “On one hand, I think it’s a good thing to control drug use in children and get involved with that. But on the other hand, I think maybe our education system shouldn’t have the responsibility.”
The policy says requires students to remain in a random drug testing pool all year, and athletes can also be tested based on reasonable suspicion. If they refuse to test, they won’t be allowed to play.
However, there are doubts as to whether the district would actually enforce its own penalties.
“…Especially if they’re really a good football player — they’re not just going to get them off the team because their drug test came back positive. Not in Aliquippa,” community member Nazheria Johnson-Jeter said of the policy.
Lowe, meanwhile, believes that the policy is something that could be expanded upon.
“That would make more sense to me; if it were more widespread, versus just one specific district,” he said.
Aliquippa superintendent, Dr. Phillip K. Woods, declined to provide additional information regarding the policy, but claimed that more information would be available in the weeks to come.
Is Aliquippa’s Drug Testing Policy Even Legal?
Many members of the community are skeptical about the legality of the new policy. However, because it only applies to members of extracurricular activities, the new policy would be perfectly legal.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that random testing is constitutional for students in extracurricular activities, because they have a lower expectation of privacy. However, if the school wanted to test the student body at large, that would be considered a violation of their Fourth Amendment rights.
That alone could drive down participation in sports, or even cause families to leave the district altogether, even though Aliquippa says that any positive test would not go on an athlete’s record.
It is currently unknown whether or not the district plans to begin the policy during the current or next academic year.