Pubdate: Tue, 26 Nov 2002
Source: Decatur Daily (AL)
Copyright: 2002 The Decatur Daily
Contact:  http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/index.shtml
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/696

HARTSELLE SENDING WRONG MESSAGE ABOUT DRUGS

Hartselle would like to have the innocence of Mayberry U.S.A., but there is 
no imaginary, invincible wall around the city to keep it more morally fit 
than Decatur and other cities.

Thus, some people simply don't want to admit the possibility of a drug 
problem in schools there. As a result, rumors run wild about who's using 
drugs and how pervasive that use might be.

School Superintendent Lee Hartsell had the opportunity last week to dispel 
some of the rumors by releasing the first results of the system's 
drug-testing program.

He at first said he'd have to get legal advice on releasing them. Given 
legal approval, he delayed again, saying he wanted school board members to 
get the report before he releases the numbers to the press for public 
consumption.

That follows a pattern in which the superintendent stumbled badly when he 
denied initially in March that two baseball players tested positive for 
marijuana. Mayor Clif Knight and the City Council met publicly with the 
superintendent and school board. They wanted to know why Hartsell misled 
the public with his comments in the newspaper and why officials took no 
action against the students.

Hartsell said the school system did not take any action because the board 
could not prove that the drug use happened on school property or at a 
school function. This is when the council recommended that the school 
system adopt a drug-testing policy, which the superintendent seemed to oppose.

The secrecy and delay in making the first test results available only add 
to the criticism that Hartselle isn't being absolutely candid about the 
problem.

Other school systems, without fanfare, release results upon request.

Hartselle is a great community. Its schools have a reputation for being 
among the best in the state. The school system is, however, tarnishing its 
reputation with how slow officials react to what may or may not be a drug 
problem.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart