Pubdate: Wed, 11 Aug 2010 Source: Beaver County Times, The (PA) Copyright: 2010 Beaver County Times Contact: http://www.timesonline.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2449 Author: Bill Utterback, Beaver County Times AMBRIDGE AREA TO ELIMINATE DRUG-TESTING FEE AMBRIDGE - Some parents in Ambridge Area School District will probably have a little lighter back-to-school burden since school board directors agreed Wednesday to eliminate a $30 drug-and-alcohol testing fee for athletes and others at the high school. The decision to eliminate the drug testing fee must be formally approved at an Aug. 18 board meeting, but Superintendent Erv Weischedel asked for a straw vote at Wednesday's workshop meeting and no directors offered resistance. "(Eliminating the fee) is the route I'd like to see us go," director Kevin Joy, who initiated the discussion in June, said. In June, the district created a $50 pay-to-participate fee for athletes in the high school and junior high school to avoid slashing several athletic programs. Board members were hesitant to ask families for $80 at the start of the year. "We're all for taking some of the burden off families," board president Kimberly Locher said. A year ago, parents of athletes, band members, club members, and students who drive to school, paid $30 for a mandatory drug and alcohol test at the start of the school year, and the district paid for random testing throughout the school year. Random testing, for which the district has budgeted $13,000, will continue. Athletic director Randy Cosgrove said that between 12 and 15 students had positive tests for drugs in the 2009-2010 school year, but noted some of the positive tests were the result of prescribed drugs. "Our hope is that (the reduced drug testing plan) will have the same effect, as a major deterrent for children dabbling in drugs or alcohol," Weischedel said. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D