Pubdate: Fri, 16 May 2003 Source: Springfield News-Leader (MO) Copyright: 2003 The Springfield News-Leader Contact: http://www.springfieldnews-leader.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1129 Author: Susan Atteberry Smith Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing) MARSHFIELD CONSIDERS EXPANDING STUDENT DRUG TESTS All Extracurricular Activities May Be Covered Soon. Giving youth one more reason to say no to drugs is why yet another Ozarks school district is considering mandatory drug-testing of students in extracurricular activities. The Marshfield School Board could vote as early as next month on whether to require drug tests for high school students. Although some schools, such as Dallas County R-1, require that athletes offer urine samples for testing, Marshfield's policy would cover students in school-sponsored activities from band to sports, Superintendent Mike Wutke said. Testing would send a message that taking drugs is wrong and has consequences, Wutke said. Because it's random, it would also provide an out for students who are offered drugs, he added. "It gives someone a reason to say no other than just saying no." At least that's the message a study committee at Marshfield has been echoing from southwest Missouri districts with drug-testing policies in place. Mike Larson, athletic director and assistant principal at Carl Junction High School, is one who has been a guest of the committee as it seeks public comment on the proposed policy. In Carl Junction, student athletes have been tested for five years, their names matched to numbers drawn at random. For the past year, all junior high and high school students in extracurricular activities have been tested, Larson said. The original policy came about because coaches suspected that some athletes were using drugs, he said. The testing pool expanded to include some 620 students - almost half of Carl Junction's junior high and high school - after the U.S. Supreme Court last June approved random drug tests of students involved in competitive after-school activities or teams. Suspected drug use isn't a prerequisite for testing. The schools' interest in ridding campuses of drugs outweighs an individual's right to privacy, a 5-4 court decided, ruling against an Oklahoma high school honor student who belonged to the choir and an academic quiz team. She tested negative for drugs, then sued her school district. In Carl Junction, if the district has heard protests, they've come from parents of athletes who said it was unfair to single out their children for testing, Larson said. He told them students in other school-sponsored activities would be tested, too, as soon as the law allowed it. "That's why we're testing everybody now, because we made a promise," he said. If Marshfield approves mandatory drug-testing, it would be among a small but growing number of Missouri public school districts with such a policy, said Fred Binggeli, assistant executive director of the Missouri State High School Activities Association. The MSHSAA doesn't keep tabs on the number of drug-testing policies in place, but Binggeli estimated about half a dozen schools from several areas of the state have contacted the association in the last couple of years to talk about the issue. "It does occur in the state," he said. "I just don't think it's widespread yet." Yet John Throckmorton, operations manager for Employee Screening Service, a Springfield company providing testing for schools as well as businesses, said about 10 districts in the Ozarks test students. Throckmorton added that he's seen interest increase since the Supreme Court ruling, too. "Most of the schools that are discussing that now are schools that have not done testing in the past, and they're looking to implement a new testing program," he said. But with state budget cuts on the horizon, the expense of drug-testing could be prohibitive, Binggeli said. That's why it's not an option for some 5,000 students who take part in Springfield Public Schools extracurricular activities, said Edsel Matthews, the district's director of athletics and activities. Philosophically, Matthews doesn't have a problem with drug-testing, he said, but the price is too high for a district the size of Springfield. "We have looked into it, but for us to drug-test, it would cost us about $10,000 a school, and it would be a $50,000 line item," Matthews said. At Carl Junction, the cost is between $3,000 and $4,000 a year, Larson said. If Dallas County R-I Superintendent Gary Arthaud could, he'd budget $10,000 to $12,000 a year for hair-strand testing of all students involved in extracurricular activities. Now, Buffalo athletes - up to one-third of more than 600 high school students - randomly undergo urine tests. Hair-strand tests could reveal prescription drug use, along with the use of illegal drugs like marijuana. In Buffalo and other Ozarks schools, illicit use of prescription drugs is the latest problem. Drug-testing, Arthaud said, "is a safety issue, and it's also for their long-term health. You know, we want to help (students) while they're young to keep a straight life." Administrators acknowledged the limitations of urine tests, however, which can't provide evidence of a weekend drinking binge, even though alcohol is still the most widely used drug among teens. Yet the possibility of not being able to play in a game or a band concert could give students the motivation to say no to any drugs, administrators reiterated. "When you look at the way things are these days, it seems to me that drug use or alcohol use seems to be more accepted as time goes by, and we need to try to change that a little bit," Wutke said. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom