Pubdate: Sat, 21 May 2005
Source: Southern Illinoisan (Carbondale, IL)
Copyright: 2005 Southern Illinoisan
Contact:  http://www.TheSouthern.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1430
Author: Caleb Hale
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Test)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

A-J closes campus, considers drug testing

ANNA - Administrators at Anna-Jonesboro Community High School plan to
closed-campus lunch hour policy for freshmen next year
policy for students who participate in extracurricular activities or
those who use the campus parking lot.

The two policies are meant to pull the reins on some problems the
school district currently faces among its students - students
loitering on private property near campus, freshmen failure rates and
drug use.

The closed-campus policy will be enacted upon incoming freshmen for
the 2005 fall semester. A-J Principal Jim Woodward said the procedure
creates open campus as a reward for freshmen who do well in school and
stay out of trouble.

The new policy essentially says that lunch hour for freshmen will be
split into two sections. Half the class will be in the school
auditorium for 20 minutes, receiving extra help in study habits and
class work from administrators and volunteer teachers, while the other
students are eating in the cafeteria. The two halves then switch places.

Students at all levels receive grade point average progress reports
every four and a half weeks, Woodward said. The freshmen's progress
reports will be used to gauge whether they get to leave campus at lunch.

"If the student is passing all of their classes, then they go back to
an open campus," he said.

Students' progress continues to be monitored every four and half
weeks. Students who begin to fail any class will be put back into the
closed-campus program until the next progress report shows they are
passing.

Superintendent Bill Schildknecht said he doesn't expect the program to
affect most students after the initial progress report.

"After the first of the grades are out, probably two-thirds or
three-fourths of them will be excused," Schildknecht said.

Lower classmen at A-J have largely been blamed for trespassing and
damaging private property near campus. The problem has persisted for
years, but earlier this year Anna police cracked down, citing 18
students in one day for violations.

Woodward said students in all classes have contributed to the
loitering problem, mostly because of their desire to smoke.

The main reason for implementing the closed-campus policy is to help
younger high school students get a handle on the changes they've
experienced from junior high.

"It seems like every year we have a nucleus of freshmen who, because
we throw so much at them, we lose them," Woodward said.

He said some students suddenly free to wander the town for an hour in
the middle of the day often act out. The closed-campus policy is meant
to keep those not quite ready for every new responsibility in high
school to slow things down and get the help they need to continue a
successful educational career.

The same goes for the proposed drug testing policy, Woodward said. It
subjects students who choose to participate in sports, clubs or those
who use the parking lot to random drug screenings.

"My intention is never to catch a kid," Woodward said. "My intention
is to give them an incentive not to do drugs."

Schildknecht said the policy rests on the reasoning that students who
participate in extracurricular activities or use the school parking
lot are receiving privileges from the district.

Woodward said those privileges can be stripped away if the student is
found using drugs. He said it essentially puts the ball in the
student's court as to whether he or she wants to risk losing access to
a club or a sport, because he or she decides to use drugs.

The school board intends to discuss the drug testing policy at its
next meeting.
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MAP posted-by: Derek