Pubdate: Thu, 18 Dec 2003
Source: Parkersburg News, The (WV)
Copyright: 2003, The Parkersburg News
Contact:  http://www.newsandsentinel.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1648
Author: Michael Erb
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)

FEW COUNTIES TO FOLLOW CALHOUN DRUG POLICY

Few neighboring counties plan to follow the Calhoun County School 
District's lead in adopting a random drug testing policy for students 
involved in extracurricular activities, administrators said Wednesday.

The Calhoun Board of Education adopted the student drug testing policy 
Monday, which allows random testing of any student participating in an 
extracurricular activity, such as sports, band or competitive clubs, such 
as chess club. Calhoun is only one of three counties in the state that 
employs a student drug testing policy. Braxton and Logan counties also have 
similar polices.

But despite the new policy, few neighboring school districts say they plan 
to follow suit.

Mike Boyd, director of secondary schools for the Wood County School 
District, said students are only subject to drug testing if they have been 
cited for possession or use of a drug, alcohol or tobacco on school property.

"Our drug policy, which mirrors the state drug policy, we feel is enough," 
he said.

Student athletes and their parents are also asked to sign a drug-free 
contract with the district when they try out for a school sports team. If a 
student later violated that contract, Boyd said they would be asked to take 
a drug test and possibly enroll in a drug rehabilitation program.

Another factor, Boyd said, would be the cost. State officials have 
estimated the cost of a single drug test to be between $4 and $5. Calhoun 
County Schools administrators have said the district policy will affect 
about 140 students.

Boyd said that more than half of Wood County's nearly 14,000 students 
participate in extracurricular activities. To randomly test even a fraction 
of those students could potentially cost the district thousands of dollars.

"In a smaller district it might make sense, but for a district such as Wood 
County... it could be very costly," he said.

Ronald Ray, superintendent of Jackson County Schools, said their are no 
plans for his district to institute random drug testing.

"We are not considering it at this point in time," he said. "While you are 
going to find that problem in any school district, I don't think the 
problems in Jackson county schools warrant that kind of a policy."

Ray also said random testing would likely meet with resistance from parents 
and students.

"That pretty major invasion of privacy for the students and I don't think 
we have that big of a problem," he said.

Ray said if random drug tests did become necessary, he did not believe the 
costs would be prohibitive.

Superintendent Ed Toman said he has so far not seen a need for a student 
drug testing policy in Wirt County Schools.

"It hasn't really been discussed. We haven't seen a problem in our county 
so far," he said.

Toman said coaches and "community expectations" have so far kept many 
students who participate in extracurricular activities away from drugs, and 
thus have limited the need for random student testing.

But Superintendent Richard Butler of the Ritchie County School District 
said he may consider a drug testing policy in the future depending on how 
Calhoun County's policy is received by students, parents and community members.

"We are interested in seeing how it plays out in a county like 
Calhoun,which is very similar to our county," he said. "We are kind of 
taking a wait-and-see approach."

Butler said he would have to see proof of the policy's worth before 
suggesting random drug tests in Ritchie County schools.

"If it proves to be successful and positive and effective (in Calhoun) then 
it is something we will certainly consider," he said. "At this point in 
time, we are not actively going in that direction."
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman