Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Photograph by Lea Tauriello

Tom Gremore, parent of a LGHS football player, asks the school board to test varsity players for drugs.

LGHS football coach can test players for drugs, but gets no official mandate

School board gives its blessing, but legal problems may exist

By Shari Kaplan and Clarence Cromwell

Butch Cattolico, Los Gatos High School's head football coach, didn't get a school board directive to test his players for drugs, but he got the board's permission to test if he wants to, and he said that's good enough.

"I feel strongly we have a problem, and I feel this is the best way to handle it. This is what I'm doing as head football coach--to teach them more than football," Cattolico said.

When the Sept. 3 meeting of the Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High School District Board of Trustees was over, Cattolico walked away with the board's "blessing" but not its official vote for his proposal to begin random, voluntary drug testing on members of the LGHS varsity football team.

Board members and Superintendent Tod Likins did not believe this was a matter the board should vote upon; a vote would be reserved for a policy-making decision, and the board was not prepared at this time to get into the possible legal imbroglios surrounding such a decision.

Trustee Ron Adolphson reiterated his concern that the voluntary nature of the program may cause players to be stigmatized or thought to be automatically guilty if they refuse to participate. However, Adolphson said he supported a voluntary drug testing program run by Cattolico.

Trustee Bob Allen offered a "multi-tiered proposal": By not voting to establish a policy but in giving Cattolico the board's "blessing," Cattolico would be able to use the provisions in the district's athletic code to do drug testing as "a tool that can help students in a positive way," he said. Allen also suggested forming a committee of administrators, parents and students to look further into the drug use problem. His suggestion led to an ad hoc committee forming by the end of the evening.

Cattolico said he would have preferred a school board decision.

"It's a win/loss type of thing. We have the moral support of the board, but if things go wrong, I'm afraid we'll be on our own," Cattolico said after the meeting. He said he is disappointed and wishes the board could have established a policy and helped take responsibility. He said he will proceed with his plans, but feels he must use caution.

"My concern is this is a no-man's land. This is neither legal nor illegal," Likins said at the meeting. His recommendation to the board was not to vote on the drug-testing issue but, rather, leave it to Cattolico and the group of concerned parents who have backed the coach throughout.

A letter board members received from the district's legal counsel expressed some serious reservations, Likins said, including that "the proposed drug-testing policy does not meet the requirements under current federal or state law," and the district would need to provide evidence of a "compelling need" for such a program, as well as a thorough plan about collection and testing procedures. In addition, the program may be vulnerable in that its tests include those for substances other than illegal drugs, Likins said.

Cattolico explained that more than 13 California school districts already have some type of drug-testing program--some more strict than his, some more lenient. He also shared information from the State Board of Education and cited the June 1995 U.S. Supreme Court case of Veronia School District v. Acton. In that case, the court ruled that drug testing of athletes does not violate the constitutional clause pertaining to reasonable search and seizure. The court rendered an opinion that benefits of testing high school athletes for drugs outweigh any minor invasion of privacy and that students, who are under state supervision at school, may be subjected to greater control than free adults.

Student board member Julie Yick of Los Gatos High School said there are mixed feelings about drug testing among her fellow students, although she said many commented that if the football team is tested, other athletes should be as well. For that matter, she added, athletes are not the only leaders students look up to, so perhaps testing other extracurricular groups would be in order.

Cattolico acknowledged that it might be more fair to test everyone, but the money and time involved would be problematic. A parent in the audience pointed out that if the school has to start somewhere, it should be with the football team because its members are among the school's most visible students.

Cattolico told the board that a group of concerned parents came to him and said, "We have a problem; is there something you can do to help us?" For years, he said, he has talked to players about the downside to using alcohol, cigarettes and drugs and has had all players sign a "no drugs" pledge. It has come to his attention that the pledge is no longer enough, he said.

Cattolico's proposal entails confidential testing of players' urine for alcohol, marijuana, tobacco, steroids and crank. If a player tests positive, parents will be contacted and he will receive counseling. If he tests positive a second time, counseling and a one-week football suspension ensue. A third violation will result in removal from the football team. A player whose family did not consent to the testing would still receive the three-strikes treatment if he was caught using these substances.

Based on his legal research and consultations with representatives of various school districts, Cattolico said, "What we're [presenting] is well within the confines of what's acceptable." He said that football requires players to be in top condition, and any kind of substance use can compromise players' physical and mental abilities.

Several parents in the group backing Cattolico addressed the board. Additionally, CASA past president Vicki Thorburn offered CASA's support, and Los Gatos Police Capt. Jeff Miller spoke on drug use among teenagers and how testing might combat the peer pressure that causes some players to use illicit substances.

"A pledge is nice, but sometimes that doesn't go far enough. The testing reinforces that pledge," Miller said.