Pubdate: Thu, 18 May 2006
Source: Athens News, The (OH)
Copyright: 2006, Athens News
Contact:  http://www.athensnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1603
Author: Jim Phillips
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Test)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

STUDENTS TO OFFER REGULAR INPUT TO ALEX SCHOOL BOARD

When the Alexander Local School Board adopted a new  student 
drug-testing policy last summer, it ran into a  firestorm of 
opposition from some district families.

Those speaking against the new rules included some  Alexander 
students, who argued that board members were  out of touch and were 
overstating the level of student  drug use in the district.

Now, with the policy rescinded, two school board  members who 
supported it voted off the board in  November, and a third having 
resigned, Alexander Supt.  Bob Bray wants to make sure future board 
decisions  aren't made without hearing from students.

Bray and new school board member Gordon Brooks have  taken steps to 
organize a student advisory committee,  which will offer input on any 
proposed school board  actions that could have a major effect on students.

"I'm sure there are other places that have them," Bray  said 
Saturday. "It's really to give (students) a voice  on some issues 
that pertain to student life."

Spearheading the effort on the student side is senior  and Alexander 
Student Council member Megan Moseley, who  at the request of Bray and 
Brooks helped put together  the membership of the first Alexander 
student advisory  committee.

"They came to me and asked me to kind of get things  going," Moseley recalled.

She said the defined membership of the group will be  two high school 
seniors, two juniors, one freshman and  sophomore each, and three 
middle schoolers.

"We'll meet once a month for most of the school year,  and twice 
during the summer," she reported. Including  middle-school students, 
she said, is meant to provide a  process by which the committee can 
introduce younger  students to the process early, and provide some 
continuity of membership over the years.

The group will focus on issues that could have a direct  impact on 
students. Its first major assignment, for  example, is to review the 
student handbook and conduct  code, which may be coming up for 
revision. The  committee has also discussed the parking situation at 
the Alexander school complex in Albany, Moseley said.

The student said she's enthusiastic about the  committee, which she 
hopes will give the larger student  body a channel through which to 
communicate their  concerns to the school board.

"It's really nice, because it's opening up  communication between the 
school board and the student  body," she said. "A lot of students are 
too intimidated  or nervous to talk to the school board about issues 
they have."

While the current advisory committee's membership was  mined from 
Student Council, Moseley said that  membership on the committee will 
be potentially open to  any student.

Members will be required to attend designated meetings  with the 
school board, or risk losing their seats, and  will be expected to 
keep the student body up to date on  any plans by the board that 
could affect their  day-to-day lives at school.

"If the school board is planning on doing anything  relating to the 
students, we will be the first to  know," she promised.

Moseley has already attended a school board meeting,  where she 
informed the board about the committee.

Bray said the committee will be purely advisory, but  that the input 
it provides won't be just for show.

"It's an advisory committee, but their opinions will be  considered, 
and will be considered seriously," he  promised.

What if such a committee had been in place before the  board decided 
to require urine testing for drugs among  student athletes, 
cheerleaders and those who drove to  school?

"I think that the board would have had a different feel  for where 
the students were on that issue," Bray  speculated. "Because I think 
the drug-testing policy  was really more adult-driven."

The student advisory committee met Wednesday evening in  the high 
school library.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman