Pubdate: Sat, 26 Jul 2008 Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune (FL) Copyright: 2008 Sarasota Herald-Tribune Contact: http://www.heraldtribune.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/398 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States) TESTING FOR AWARENESS Drug Program For Manatee Athletes Needs Discussion Federal funds are available to Manatee County's school district to test student-athletes for drugs and alcohol: Who knew? Not enough people, including some important figures in the school district. Some School Board members and athletic directors were caught off guard and unaware this week when Herald-Tribune reporter Christopher O'Donnell asked them about the district's emerging plan to implement the testing program. But O'Donnell's article, a surge of information sharing by the district and a proposal to hire a testing-program chief, scheduled for School Board consideration Monday, provide greater awareness -- and, we hope, will lead to a broader public discussion of the most effective ways that public schools can help deter young people from illegally consuming alcohol and drugs. In March, the School Board approved a staff recommendation to apply for a six-figure federal grant, as well as "accept and expend" the funds. The recommendation was contained on the "consent agenda," which the School Board, like other public boards, generally approves with little debate. In this case, board minutes don't mention a discussion about the program. In June, the National Office of Drug Control Policy announced that 49 schools in 20 states had been awarded grants to underwrite random testing of certain student groups. Manatee was granted $103,000; another district in Florida, Polk County, was awarded $196,000. Since then, Manatee district officials have been in the early stages of creating a three-year program. The board and its staff still need to consider hiring a qualified coordinator, approve the testing protocols and communicate the program to the six participating high schools. Board member Jane Pfeilsticker said she'll ask that the hiring process be publicly discussed during Monday's meeting; that's a good, obvious way to begin to increase awareness and generate constructive discussion as the plan is rolled out next month to athletic directors and other key figures. In retrospect, it would have served everyone's interests if the grant application hadn't been treated as such a routine matter; after all, this is a serious matter, complex legal issues are involved and the testing will be limited to high school athletes, including cheerleaders. All of these conditions raise questions about whether the program will be cost-effective and fair: Student-athletes have already been singled out in a statewide program created to test 1 percent of high school players for steroid use; since the program began last July, 425 male and female varsity athletes have been tested for performance enhancing substances and only one has tested positive. Fortunately, it's not too late for the School Board, district administration, athletic directors, students and parents to have a productive discussion about how to proceed and provide young people with the knowledge and tools they need. It would also be useful for Manatee officials to get input about effectiveness from their counterparts in Sarasota's school district, which had random testing for athletes but dropped the program this year when grant funding expired. Experts differ on how to deter alcohol and drug use by teens; for example, a report titled "Making Sense of Drug Testing: Why Educators Are Saying No" is posted on the Florida Department of Education's Web site for its Office of Drug Testing. Still, local advocates of testing high school students make strong arguments. Studies, surveys and anecdotal evidence suggest that alcohol consumption is frequent. Statistics indicate an alarming rise in the unauthorized use of powerful prescription drugs; unfortunately, those drugs aren't on the testing list. Although the fear of testing won't deter all student-athletes from using alcohol or drugs, the program would provide them with a tool for resisting peer pressure and it also provides for treatment referrals in the event that results indicate a problem. But in light of the selectivity of the program and the questions about effectiveness, the School Board, experts, students, parents and the community ought to be fully engaged in the decision-making. The challenge, it seems, is how the public schools can help all students -- whether or not they're involved in athletics -- make the right choices. And the reality is that, if the problem is such that it warrants testing a small group, are there sufficient strategies for helping the vast majority of students avoid the same risks? - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin