Pubdate: Wed, 17 Dec 2003 Source: Parkersburg Sentinel, The (WV) Copyright: 2003, The Parkersburg Sentinel Contact: http://www.newsandsentinel.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1647 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 ( Students - United States) CALHOUN BOE PASSES STUDENT DRUG TESTING MOUNT ZION - While practice may make perfect, staying drug free will now be required to keep Calhoun County extra-curricular students involved in their activities. The Calhoun County Board of Education Monday unanimously passed the "Student Activity Drug Testing Policy." It subjects "activity" students to random drug tests and imposes penalties upon any student who tests positive or refuses to submit to the policy "It will happen; we will test," Superintendent Ron Blankenship said. "I think you (students) need to be positive about it. Take it from a positive standpoint. If you're going to represent the county in any activity, you have to understand you're going to be held to a higher standard." When the policy takes effect Feb. 1, Calhoun County will join Braxton and Logan as the three West Virginia counties to pass such a policy, said the state's safe and drug free schools coordinator Mary Jane Kerwood. The policy will govern Calhoun County Middle and High School students who interscholastically compete as part of their extra-curricular activities. That group includes athletes and cheerleaders, along with members of the schools' band, vocal music groups, academic teams, FHA and FFA organizations. Blankenship expects it to affect about 140 seventh-through 12th-grade students. Board member Carlene Frederick voted for the policy, but she believes testing only the "activity" student will solve a minority of the schools' drug problem. "We're not reaching the children that need to be reached," she said. "The majority of the kids in extra-curricular activities are not the ones using drugs the most, but it's other children." Kerwood said Calhoun County's policy goes as far as the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed. Case law permits school systems to test only its "activity" students. "The decision is that education is a right, but extra-curricular activities are a privilege and that the schools have a right to withhold that privilege," Kerwood said. The policy states "activity" students "carry a responsibility to themselves, their fellow students, their parents, and their school to set the highest possible examples of conduct, sportsmanship and training, which includes avoiding the use or possession of illegal drugs." "I hope we don't have a problem," Calhoun High head basketball coach Tim Davis said. "Sometimes as a coach you think it might be a little unfair. They don't get any extra privileges and get harsher treatment. You just have to play by the rules." Davis' sophomore forward, Victor Carpenter, believes being drug free will help him and his teammates focus on the court. "I think if you don't have your mind on basketball, you shouldn't be playing," he said. "If you want to play ball, you shouldn't be out doing stuff you shouldn't do." Davis, along with other coaches, sponsors and administrators, will spend the next weeks outlining the new policy to the affected students. Upon understanding the policy, the student, coach and parents will all be required to sign a consent form before the student will be allowed to participate. "If they have ample time to get it out of their system, they need to do it or suffer the consequences," said Mike Hayden, executive director of the state Secondary School Activities Commission. "We take a neutral position on it. We support our county boards and what they do but it's an individual county decision." The Calhoun policy restricts administrators from imposing suspensions from school or academic sanctions on its offenders. Instead it outlines the three phases of enforcement. Upon a first offense, the student will be subjected to parental notification, counseling and a mandatory second drug test within two weeks of the first offense. Second-time offenders will face suspension from all activities covered under the policy for 14 calendar days and be required to seek four hours of counseling. The student will be randomly tested monthly for the remainder of the school year. Third-time offenders in the same school year will be subject to a complete suspension from extra-curricular activities for the remainder of the school year or 90 school days, whichever is longer. The suspension would include meetings, practices, performances and competitions. "This isn't for the good student," board member Ralph Cunningham said. "This is to keep the student who may not tend to abide by the rules, to keep him straight." "A lot of these kids are more concerned with being able to participate in something like this than they are the actual use of something like that," he added. The policy states that positive test results will be kept confidential among the laboratory, principal/athletic director, head coach/sponsor, parents and the student. Blankenship expects a federal grant will cover the costs of the random tests. Kerwood estimated such drug tests usually cost between $4 and $5 per test. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin