Pubdate: Tue, 07 Aug 2001 Source: Ft. Worth Star-Telegram (TX) Copyright: 2001 Star-Telegram, Fort Worth, Texas Contact: http://www.star-telegram.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/162 Author: Robert Cadwallader, Special to the Star-Telegram KENNEDALE TRUSTEES VOICE SUPPORT FOR DRUG TESTING The Superintendent Is Asked To Review The Costs And Legal Issues Of Mandatory Screening Before A Decision Is Made. KENNEDALE - School board trustees voiced support for mandatory drug testing Monday night but asked their superintendent to look further into legal issues and cost. The main question was whether the school district has a drug problem that is serious enough - and documentable enough - to provide solid legal ground for a testing program. High school Principal Ed Farmer gave the board a report showing that 12 of the high school's 700 students last year were caught with drugs or drug paraphernalia. Board President Darrell Barnes said that the figure doesn't shed light on drug use among students and that he doesn't think that is enough evidence to meet the standards of recent court rulings. "You can't prove to me with this paper that we have a problem," Barnes said. The board told Superintendent Gary Dugger to develop several options to consider, including comparisons between a mandatory and voluntary testing program, and whether to limit the tests to athletes. Also the board, which is grappling with a budget deficit, wants staff members to heavily weigh the costs of a program. More than 400 high school and junior high students are in athletics, and the tests cost about $15 each. Some trustees said strictly random testing makes more fiscal sense. Officials said a mandatory program for all students, rather than just those in athletics or other extracurricular activities, would probably face a legal challenge. Some want to wait out the appeal of a U.S. district judge's ruling in West Texas that struck down a Tulia school district policy requiring students in extracurricular activities to submit to drug testing. The judge said Tulia didn't prove it had an unusually serious drug problem. Athletic Director Richard Barrett said the purpose of a mandatory program would not be to catch students using drugs but to deter them and provide ammunition against peer pressure. "It's a way for them and a means for them to say no," said Barrett, who ran a mandatory drug-testing program for athletes when he was athletic director in the Godley school district. Barrett, who came to Kennedale in April, started the Godley program two years ago, borrowing from the Joshua school district's program. Godley randomly tested all athletes at the beginning of their sports seasons and then randomly tested 50 high school and junior high students every two weeks throughout the year. Several Kennedale trustees said a less-intensive program would be sufficient in Kennedale. - --- MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager