I need legal advice. My son's former school ran a random urinalysis on him and the second time he tested?

positive. He was not expelled, but able to withdraw. I enrolled him in a school in NC. and they requested transcripts. His tests and everything are on his transcripts. This reminds me of pigpen in Charlie Brown or the Scarlett Letter. His grade point average is 3.6 and taking honors classes. He has had a clean record at school. Why did they open pandora's box? I don't know what to do now.I need legal advice. My son's former school ran a random urinalysis on him and the second time he tested?
I'm only a high school student, so I can't offer you any legal advice, but you do have my sympathies. I know how tremendously stressful and painful this ordeal has been for both of you, and I feel like he has been punished far too harshly. He presumably wasn't dealing drugs, hurting other students or teachers, cheating or vandalizing school property, and he's a strong student who doesn't deserve to be branded as a delinquent for experimenting with pot. He deserved to be punished, but this isn't a proportional punishment. It's way over the top.





I once popped into a place here called The Legal Grind that is a coffee shop / law firm that offers legal advice in an informal setting. I just grabbed some coffee, so I don't know what they charge, but I posted the link to their site below. Perhaps there is a similar place where you live where you could seek affordable legal advice on this matter.





I'm wondering if the drug test was even legal to begin with. Was the school private or public? Have you thoroughly read over the student handbook about their drug testing policy? If he is attending a public school, then they are only allowed to administer a random drug test if he is involved in a competitive extracurricular activity. Maybe the drug test wasn't legal to begin with, and if that's the case, then it should be expunged from his record.





Please don't take to heart the criticism you are going to receive from other answerers here or the real-life Roger Chillingworths you encounter. Your son made a mistake, and he's already been punished for it and doesn't deserve further condemnation. In case people haven't paid attention to history or the news, Bill Clinton made the same mistake in college and still managed to become the leader of the free world, and so did Olympian Michael Phelps. So have many, many others. All you need to do is walk down the halls of a college dorm and sniff and you'll know he's not the only kid who's toked up.





Anyway, the worst case scenario is it stays on his high school record. He can finish high school at the new school, go to college (and I do think he'd still get in) and move onward and upwards with his life.





~ Pax / Peace : )I need legal advice. My son's former school ran a random urinalysis on him and the second time he tested?
he has been punished enough over this mistake. Talk to his new school and tell them that. Tell them he needs an education from a proper institution of learning.


I hope you can work it out. Sad too because he does have good grades. Go to the representative if the school administrator is already kicking him out and he's done nothing wrong. Being booted from one school is even too much for his offense. That is ridiculous!


blessed be!
It depends on the state you live in, sweetie. I'm sorry this happened. I'm sure it was just weed. They shouldn't treat people like they are criminals for smoking weed. It's ridiculous! I understand how you feel. I've been there. I just don't know the laws where you are. I do wish you and your son the best. He shouldn't be done this way. Just more of the government control issues. I hate it!
I wish I could help you more directly but if I were in your place I would hire a lawyer and sue them to have it removed. It doesn't matter if they were acting in accordance to state law which was probably established a few years ago, it is an intentional invasion of privacy and it subjects him without just cause to legal jeopardy through a technique that is not always accurate.





Unfortunately colleges require a transcript... but places of business to my knowledge don't generally require it (especially if he has been through college at the time, and it will not transfer).
We went through something like this a while back with my stepson. He got mixed up with kids who were smoking and selling pot. He was driving under the influence and we took the car and his phone away from him for a while and grounded him. He agreed to stop and go through random drug testing, in cooperation with his pediatrician. Everything was going along great until those kids pressured him to go back, and started some crazy stuff - threats coming through MySpace, death threats being IM'ed to him. People are so stupid. We went to the police and filed charges, and ended up having to move him to another school. He did finish high school and is going to a community college now. I would say the whole deal has eaten up a year of his life. I am pretty sure he is clean now, because he seems to be allergic to the stuff.





Fortunately, our local high school did not pull such a stunt. Also, the pediatrician kept it confidential. You have a great attitude. If he is not continuing to use drugs, he has learned a valuable lesson. Most kids go through this. I did (and I'm 57 years old.) My mother did. Unfortunately your son got caught, but it will be a growing experience for him. I hope you get a great lawyer.
As a father of 4, I can sympathize with you. As a child of the 60's, I can relate to what he is going through now. The only time I had a bad time with my school records was when I worked in a machine shop that had a government contract for making spare parts for the F 117. They didn't care about my poor grades, or bad attendance, they just weren't sure I was a citizen of the USA.


You and I both know that the old line teachers used to use ';This is going into your permanent record!'; is all hog wash anyway! The only time it might come up is if he wants to go into the military, or get a Government job. If he gets a sports scholarship and his grades are still up, most colleges will ignore the the one bad mark, in favor of a promising student.


So what, if he forgot to study for his pee test!


it's in his school records, not his police jacket.


My father told me ';Son, I don't ever want to catch you smokin' dope!';


So, I never let him catch me!


Doesn't mean I never got caught, I just never let HIM catch me.


Sure, I had to change schools too after getting caught, but I still went on to college. I even got a license as a school bus operator when I was 19 and clean and sober. (Paid my own way to college that way.)
People need to learn a thing or two about grace. this is a kid who made a mistake and had some weed, not one who pulled a gun on the school. I agree with Miss Skylark that you should seek up some legal advice in person. I also agree with everything else she wrote about how it's not the end of the world but he's getting a raw deal. It's amazing to me that a high school kid like herself has so much more common sense and compassion and knowledge than lots of the adults who answer on this site. I don't have legal advice, I just followed her star to this question, but I do think you should talk to somebody in your state and just do keeping doing whats best for your kid. Godspeed.





Moretoo: What makes you think the lady agreed to let her kid be tested? I hope your kid in that avatar doesnt make a mistake one day and have some jerk on the internet call you stupid for it.
Of course, it's in his record. It's part of his record. Now, you both know some of the consequences (there will be others). He's going to have to live and deal with the consequences of his behavior. It's an important lesson. So stop blaming the school and look to your son.
your stupidity in allowing your child to be tested in the first place is only exceeded by your apparent refusel to see any danger other than to his academic record
So your kid did drugs but you don't want him to suffer any punishment for it. Yes I guess your kid will end up lost in crack.
The worst you can do is to take up for your son.


Take the blinders off. He does not have a clean record. How long was he doing drugs before he got caught?


The fact that he got caught may have saved him.


He is into drugs.


Do you want him to be a bad influence on his new school? As long as you try to sweep this under the rug, he is going to continue his destructive behavior. Druggies are master manipulators.





Wake up, and take the bull by the horn. Otherwise, you will be spending the rest of your life visiting him in prison.