Pubdate: Sun, 26 Feb 2006
Source: North County Times (Escondido, CA)
Copyright: 2006 North County Times
Contact:  http://www.nctimes.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1080
Note: Gives LTE priority to North San Diego County and Southwest 
Riverside County residents
Author: Stacy Brandt, Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Test)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

DRUG TESTING TO START NEXT WEEK AT VISTA HIGH SCHOOLS

VISTA ---- This week, Vista's two comprehensive high schools will
begin randomly drug testing all students involved with competitive
extracurricular activities, officials said.

Though Vista Unified School District administrators say most students
and parents support the program, some have expressed concern that it
violates teens' right to privacy.

"Vista Unified has gone way over and above how they should have gone
about this program," said Royce Ramswick, who has a daughter attending
Rancho Buena Vista. "They are not the parents. We pay them to educate,
not to police the children."

Vista High School Principal Larry White said he thinks it's natural
for parents to have concerns about the new program. However, he said
most parents feel more comfortable with the testing after they receive
more information about it.

"I think anyone who's a parent, we're concerned with our children," he
said, "so we're going to have questions."

Between the two schools ---- Vista High and Rancho Buena Vista ----
about 2,500 students are initially expected to be in the random
testing pool. The number could go up as parents whose students aren't
involved in extracurricular activities choose to place their children
in the program.

Several students fraternizing at Rancho Buena Vista during lunch
Friday said they welcome the program.

"It's a good idea," said junior Frankie Vazquez, echoing the
sentiments of the other students. "It's about time they started it."

Vazquez, who will be in the random pool as part of the school's
marching band, said he thinks most high school students support the
testing.

The testing, which will be paid for with a federal grant from the U.S.
Department of Education, is needed because of a "significant problem"
with drugs at the schools, White said.

In a districtwide survey administered last year, 36 percent of 11th
graders said they had used drugs and 22 percent said they had been
drunk or high on school property.

"That's not something that we're proud of, but that's a fact," White
said.

Support And Opposition

Interest in random drug testing at Vista Unified's high schools was
piqued last year when Rancho Buena Vista started a pilot program,
testing its football team.

Principal Richard Alderson said he considers the program a success.
Only about 120 students were tested in the pilot program, about eight
to 10 a week. In that time, only two students tested positive for drug
use, Alderson said.

The program was so successful for the football team that the wrestling
and baseball teams both asked to be included, Alderson said.

The Vista Unified school board voted unanimously at its Feb. 16
meeting to start the program. Trustees were very supportive of the
program.

Ramswick was the only parent to speak about the testing at the
meeting.

"This is unreal, the apathy in this neighborhood," Ramswick said
Thursday. "I don't think half of the parents even know what it's about."

Alderson said has only heard from a couple of parents who are against
the testing, though he knows there is opposition.

"People have some real strong feelings about this," he
said.

Some parents and activists question whether the testing will actually
keep teens away from drugs or simply keep them out of extracurricular
activities.

"Most schools that do test their students have testing as an extra
excuse to say no," said Tom Angell, a spokesman for Washington
D.C.-based Students for Sensible Drug Policy "But really what it does
is it gives at-risk students an excuse to say no from participating in
those activities in the first place."

Pat Moramarco, athletic director at Vista High, said he doesn't expect
any significant drop because of the testing in the number of students
involved in extracurricular activities.

"We want to try to do what's best for the kids," Moramarco
said.

Parents have also complained that the district is twisting their arms
with the program since they can either sign slips giving the district
permission to test their children or remove the teens from all
extracurricular activities.

If parents are unsure whether they want to consent to the testing,
they can request a form from their child's school that will give them
until May 6 to decide. Otherwise, the consent forms are due Monday.

How It Works

Each school held a meeting this month to offer parents information
about the program and its implementation.

Once a week, a computer will randomly select between eight and 12
students at each school based on an identification number the school
will assign. Throughout the week, the students will be taken out of
class and tested for alcohol, marijuana, opiates, cocaine,
methamphetamine, steroids and PCP. The urine tests will take plan in a
private restroom with a certified lab technician.

Students would not be punished until at least their second positive
test result, the letter states. Refusal to take the test will be
considered a positive test for drugs.

With a first offense, the parents will be alerted and counseling
offered to the student, who would remain eligible to participate in
extracurricular activities. Only the student, the school nurse and the
parents are notified after a first offense.

The site administrator is notified only after a student fails a second
test in the same year. With the second offense, the student will be
suspended from his or her activity for five days or at least one
competition. After 30 days, that student must test clean twice before
returning to the activity.

If a student tests positive three times in one year, he or she will be
kicked off the team or club for the remainder of the year.

"We're hoping that deterrents are better than punishment, Principal
Alderson said.

The testing will be paid for by a $211,000 federal grant, which the
district has secured for two and a half years. If the program is
successful, the district will likely apply for it again when it
expires, Moramarco said.

One drug test can cost as much as $20, or $100 for a steroids
test.

According to the grant, which the district applied for in August, the
district can only use the money for testing.

Only four districts in the state have received this grant. Oceanside
Unified is the only other school district in the county awarded the
grant, though that district only tests its competitive athletes.
Nationwide, 55 districts will get about $7.5 million for the program.
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MAP posted-by: Tom