Pubdate: Fri, 14 Sep 2007
Source: Sun News (Myrtle Beach, SC)
Copyright: 2007 Sun Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/sunnews/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/987
Author: Bill Robinson - Mcclatchy Newspapers
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Test)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

PUBLIC SCHOOLS MAY TEST STUDENTS FOR DRUG USE

Lexington 3 Hopes To Start Random Drug Tests Next Fall

Students at Batesburg-Leesville public schools might  have to submit
to random drug and alcohol tests if they  want to participate in
school sports and other  extracurricular activities.

Lexington 3's school board is considering a policy to  test students
in grades seven through 12 that could  begin next fall.

Approximately 960 children are in those six grades, but  not all of
them play sports or participate in  sanctioned after-school activities.

It is an attempt "to create an environment to convince  kids not to
use drugs," superintendent Bill Gummerson  said.

Since becoming Lexington 3's top administrator in 2003,  Gummerson has
put an emphasis on discipline and  promoting better student behavior.

"We hope by doing this, it helps more kids make the  right decision,"
he said. "This would be one avenue to  help kids resist peer pressure
so they can say with  ease, 'I want to play.'"

Trustees are aiming at October to begin the formal  process of
adopting the policy in the public schools.

"They should do it," said Patricia Lovette, the mother  of a
Batesburg-Leesville High School junior. "The way  things are,
nowadays, drug use is getting out of hand."

Lexington 3 schools do not have a drug problem,  Gummerson
said.

"We have a peripheral problem," he said. "We don't have  the degree of
problem that we're in crisis. On the  weekends and after-school hours,
there is a drug  culture out there. It's done outside of school hours."

A good example

The policy would target use of alcohol and such drugs  as marijuana,
opiates, cocaine and phencyclidine, or  PCP. Testing for steroids
would be too expensive,  Gummerson said, but he did not rule out the
possibility.

Freshman Austin Drake said he welcomes a testing  program.

"Smoking pot makes people lazy," Drake said. "I have a  little
brother, and I need to set a good example for  him. I don't want him
to become a 'nothing.'"

Coaches and civic leaders urged the school board to  include any
student who represents Batesburg-Leesville  schools in an official
capacity.

"As a matter of fairness, the consensus was everybody  involved in
extracurricular activities ought to be  subject to testing," Gummerson
said.

He said the goal would be to test 20 percent of  students involved in
extracurricular activities. Each  must sign a testing consent form
before being allowed  to participate.

Kayla Craps, a senior who plays the flute in the B-L  High marching
band, said, "I wouldn't have a problem  with it. If that's what they
wanted for me to keep  going, I'd do it."

A student who fails a test would receive a two-week  suspension from
the activity and be assigned to  counseling sessions. A second
violation would trigger a  one-year suspension and a third violation
would end a  student's participation in all extracurricular  activities.

Wesley Thomas II, a freshman football player, said, "I  wouldn't mind.
It's important. You have to stay in good  health, keep your body clean
and your mind right."

The district would hire an independent testing  organization to do the
screening. Plans call for  assigning each student an identification
number that  would be selected randomly by a computer, Gummerson  said.

Testing a rarity

Lexington 2 adopted a random drug-testing program in  October 2000 for
athletes who attend Cayce-West  Columbia public schools.

Lexington 3 is drawing inspiration from a newer policy  used by Marion
1's school system, which acquired a  federal grant to begin a similar
testing program a year  ago for its athletes.

"We are the only federally funded drug-testing program  in South
Carolina," said Judy Wesley, a retired English  teacher who wrote the
grant application and is its  coordinator.

Wesley said she's encountered no backlash from  students, parents or
the Marion community since the  program's inception in 2006. Marion 1
tested 147  students during the past school year - at $35 per test  -
and had three cases that required disciplinary  action, Wesley said.

"We feel it's accomplished what we hoped it would," she
said.

Building character

Lexington 3 Chairman Benjie Rikard said he believes  there is
unanimous support among the seven-member board  to adopt a testing
policy.

"We just need to get the right language worked out," he
said.

Rikard credits trustee Ralph Kennedy with being the  lead advocate for
adopting a policy.

Kennedy said the board has a special responsibility.

"I feel like we are charged with preparing these young  people for the
world," Kennedy said. "We have to build  character and have them
experience that there are  consequences to their actions."

Gummerson anticipates a policy being adopted by  December.
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MAP posted-by: Derek