Pubdate: Wed, 16 Mar 2005
Source: Athens Banner-Herald (GA)
Copyright: 2005 Athens Newspapers Inc
Contact:  http://www.onlineathens.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1535
Author: Todd DeFeo
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Test)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

NO INPUT YET ON RANDOM DRUG SCREENS

Commerce Schools

COMMERCE - With little discussion and no input from parents, a proposal to 
give random drug tests to students in Commerce City Schools cleared its 
first hurdle Monday.

The Commerce Board of Education could implement the policy at its April 11 
meeting.

School officials say there is not a drug problem within the 1,425-student 
school system; rather, the policy to randomly test students is meant to 
give kids an excuse to say no if pressured to use drugs. Students with 
privileges, even as common as driving to school every day, would be 
subjected to the random tests, and the privileges could be revoked if they 
test positive.

"Anything you can do to deter it, you need to do," school board Chairman 
Arthur Pattman said. "You've got to try to stay ahead. You've got to put 
policies in place to protect these kids. That's all we're trying to do."

Superintendent Larry White sent a letter to parents Monday informing them 
of the board's proposed drug-testing policy. No one spoke about the policy 
at Monday's meeting.

Under the proposed rule, middle and high school students will be randomly 
selected by a third-party company, and a school nurse will use a swab to 
take saliva samples from students. Punishment escalates for each failed test.

A first offense will land a student in a conference with his parents and a 
school staff member, such as the principal, in addition to drug counseling. 
A second offense will net a 45-day suspension from privileges, but the 
student can apply for reinstatement after he passes another drug test and 
participates in drug counseling.

If a student fails a third drug test, he would lose privileges for a year, 
according to a draft of the policy. After the year, the student could 
participate again after he passed a drug test and completed a drug 
assessment or counseling program.

"We're not throwing the book at kids," White said. "We're just trying to 
give a certain segment of kids an excuse to say no. Peer pressure is 
getting tougher all the time."

School administrators will continue to count a student's failed drug tests 
through his or her middle school and high school careers, but violations 
would not carry over from middle to high school, according to the proposed 
policy.

In creating the policy, school officials based their proposal on schools in 
Calhoun and Thomaston where similar policies are used.

Among the drugs students would be tested for are alcohol, anabolic 
steroids, cocaine, marijuana and propoxyphene, a pain killer, according to 
a draft of the policy presented at Monday's board meeting.

Under the policy, school officials could use any variety of test, including 
taking urine, tissue or hair samples. However, nurses will use swabs to 
collect samples from students, White said.
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MAP posted-by: Beth