Pubdate: Sun, 26 Oct 2008
Source: Winchester Star, The (VA)
Copyright: 2008 by The Winchester Star -
Contact:  http://www.winchesterstar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1986
Author: Robert Niedzwiecki
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States)

IN CLARKE, DRUG TESTING BELIEVED TO BE A DETERRENT

WINCHESTER - In 1999, Clarke County High School became  just the third
high school in Virginia to begin  randomly testing student athletes
for drug use.

Nine years later, the program is still going strong.

"I think it's an excellent policy," said Clarke County  Public Schools
Superintendent Michael F. Murphy, who  started his job in July. "You
want athletes to be clean  at all levels, whether it's professional,
college, or  high school, but we know that's not true. This program 
requires it."

Clarke school officials believe random testing acts a  deterrent to
drug use. Students who may be tempted to  smoke marijuana or bulk up
through  performance-enhancing drugs will think twice about  taking
such a risk. Not only could they lose their  eligibility, but they
risk incurring the wrath of  teammates who are counting on them.

Athletes appear to have gotten the message. Records  kept since 2004
show that no Clarke County athletes  have failed the test. Clarke
officials who were around  during the program's first five years say
they can't  remember any failed tests either.

In a student body that numbers 760, about 170 are  student
athletes.

Although there was some criticism before the policy was  passed,
officials say there's been little opposition  since.

One of the biggest objections to the program when it  first started is
still an issue today: Athletes at  Clarke County say they shouldn't be
the only students  who are tested.

Former Clarke County athletic director Randy Trenary  presented the
idea of drug testing to the school board  nine years ago as a safety
issue. If an athlete was  high during a practice or game, he was
afraid the  athlete would injure themselves or a teammate.

There have been a few changes to the program since  Trenary, now an
assistant athletic director at Heritage  High School in Leesburg, left
in 2002.

One thing has remained relatively constant: what Clarke  County spends
each year on its drug-testing program.

According to Matthew Eberhardt, assistant  superintendent for
instruction, Clarke County spent  $3,020 during the program's first
year of 1999-2000;  $3,040 in 2003-04; and $3,062 in 2007-08. Since it
 began, Clarke has spent a little more than $27,000 on  the program.

Richmond-based Pembrooke Occupational Health, which has  been employed
by Clarke County since December 2004, has  processed 243 test samples
over the past 31/2 years,  approximately 70 each school year. Last
year, the firm  processed 66 tests at $23 each for a total cost of 
$1,518. Athletes are assigned an identification number  and are
randomly selected for testing by Pembrooke.

Winchester-based Amherst Family Practice (AFP)  administers the tests,
for which it received $1,544  last year. Athletes were tested after
school when  Trenary was athletic director. Now athletes are tested 
by AFP during the day, then AFP submits the urine  samples to Pembrooke.

Last year, tests were administered once or twice a  month, with as
many as 10 athletes tested at once.

The consequences for failing a drug test have stayed  the same through
the years. For the first offense, an  athlete is suspended from
interscholastic sports for  six months; the second time, for a year;
and the third  time, they're barred permanently. All three offenses 
require students to attend substance abuse education  programs.

While Trenary's main concern was safety on the field,  he likes to
think that drug testing encouraged athletes  to make responsible
choices. Trenary is glad he was  able to bring it to Clarke County,
even if it's  unlikely something similar will ever be implemented at 
Heritage, one of 11 high schools in Loudoun County. In  order for a
school to institute an athlete drug-testing  program, Trenary said,
all the other schools in the  county or city would have to approve
it.

Drug testing high school athletes is not a common  practice. Although
there are no official statistics on  the number of Virginia schools
who test athletes, at  least six schools in the state do so. Lynchburg
City  Schools' two high schools and Dickenson County Public  Schools'
three high schools are among the others.

"I think it's probably a deterrent to not use drugs,"  Trenary
said.

Mike McCall, a Clarke County school board member from  1996 to 2007
who is now an information and  communication specialist with the
Virginia High School  League, agrees with Trenary.

Some people who were initially against drug testing now  view it as
valuable since they found out how the  process worked and that the
athletes' privacy would be  protected.

McCall is the father of one of the Clarke County High  School's' top
athletes in recent years. Keely McCall  played soccer and basketball
for the school from 2003  to 2007. During his high school years,
Clarke County  won 16 state championships. Keely McCall participated 
during three of them.

McCall said that type of success would have made it  hard for any
athlete to make a decision that would  weaken the team and affect the
chemistry.

"Peer pressure is an outstanding resource," McCall  said. "The program
was very successful and very  effective. We thought [drug testing]
would be a wise  decision for the school system."

McCall said the VHSL does not involve itself in athlete  drug testing.
It doesn't ask schools to do it, and it  doesn't track the progress of
the schools that do. But  he said the VHSL agrees with discouraging
drug use.

Recent Clarke County graduates think the high school's  drug-testing
policy accomplishes that goal to a degree.

Danielle Moyer, a 2008 graduate who won 13 team and  individual state
championships in four different  sports, said the program encourages
responsibility.  Moyer said she was tested five times while in high 
school.

"You don't want to let down your school or your team,"  said Moyer, a
freshman at the University of Virginia.

Charles Bailey, a 2008 graduate who played on three  state
championship teams and was The Winchester Star's  Boys' Track Athlete
of the Year as a junior, said  athletes only have themselves to blame
if they fail a  test.

"We're told from the first day what we have to go  through, and we're
told not to use drugs - period,"  said Bailey, who attends George
Mason University. "I  think it's very important. We're not
professionals, but  we are athletes. You don't want anyone on your
team  doing drugs. If reflects badly on your program and your  school."

Head football coach Chris Parker and head cross-country  coach Nancy
Specht have never had an issue with the  drug-testing program. Parker
thinks it's been great for  the school, and Specht said she just wants
what's best  for the athletes.

"I'm not going to say I'm for or against it," Specht  said. "But if
there's ever a point where we can't  afford uniforms or rehabilitation
equipment because of  the expense [of drug testing], then there's a
problem."

Athletes say they didn't have a problem with the  process, which
involves pulling athletes out of class  with no notice. Depending on
how many students are  being tested, they might miss 15 to 30 minutes
of class  time (unless they're delayed because they get nervous 
giving the urine sample). Because an athlete is  unlikely to have to
submit to a drug test more than  five times in a year, they don't
consider it a hassle.

What some athletes do have a problem with is that  they're the only
students tested. Moyer and Bailey  think the program should be
extended to any student who  participates in extracurricular activities.

"I don't think athletes should be singled out," Moyer  said. "If you
want to participate in DECA or band, you  should be held to the same
standards."

Simon Biddle-Snead, a 2007 graduate who won a total of  six individual
titles on the track and cross country  and now runs for the University
of Virginia, said he  thinks the money spent on athlete drug testing
would be  better spent on drug-education programs.

Biddle-Snead agrees with the concept of drug testing,  but he said
Clarke's program doesn't scare athletes off  drugs, and he doesn't
think athletes are the biggest  abusers.

"If they really want to get kids off drugs, they should  show them
just how dangerous they are for you,"  Biddle-Snead said. "They should
implement more  after-school activities and get involved with
community  service projects to give kids something else to focus  on."
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