Pubdate: Tue, 13 Sep 2005
Source: Salisbury Post (NC)
Copyright: 2005 Post Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.salisburypost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/380
Author: Kirsten Valle
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Test)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

TASK FORCE SEEKS MORE TIME TO CONSIDER DRUG POLICY

The Rowan-Salisbury Board of Education on Monday moved one step closer to 
implementing drug tests in local high schools.

Board members received an update on the student drug-testing task force 
from Tim Smith, student services director for the Rowan-Salisbury School 
System.

The newly formed task force, which includes 15 members from local schools 
and the community, including Smith, who serves as chairman, held its first 
meeting Sept. 1.

At its meeting, the team established a meeting schedule, reviewed 
information on implementing drug tests and expressed some concerns, 
primarily over its timetable.

Smith said the task force is an intelligent group that's devoted to its cause.

"These people have a wide array of expertise with mental health and 
substance abuse," he said. "It's a very articulate group with a wealth of 
knowledge. They're good resources and they're right here in our community."

But, despite the group's collective knowledge and its twice-monthly 
meetings, task force members wanted more time to study the drug-testing 
issue and make a recommendation to the board, Smith said.

They'd been scheduled to develop a plan and present it to the board for 
approval at its Nov. 14 meeting. Smith said it'd be wise to delay that 
presentation to January or February, which would still allow the plan to be 
implemented for the 2006-2007 school year.

"This is a very enormous project," he said.

To create a clear, written drug-testing policy, task force members needed 
to study information, consult legal counsel and enlist school and community 
support, he said.

Task force members also wanted input from the board.

"I think it's very important that a board member hear what they have to 
say," Smith said.

Board member Jim Shuping, a longtime proponent of in-school drug testing, 
had initially expressed interest in being part of the task force.

He didn't attend the Sept. 1 meeting and said Monday that he wouldn't have 
time to be on the team. Instead, Dr. Jim Emerson decided -- somewhat 
reluctantly -- to fill the spot.

"My heart is not necessarily there, because I feel like it's sort of 
swimming upstream," he said. "But they deserve to have one of us there."

Board members agreed to extend the task force's presentation to its January 
work session.

If the board wishes to implement the recommendations for next school year, 
it must approve them by February, thus ensuring their inclusion in the 
school system's code of conduct.

Board members also suggested that the task force take the public's 
suggestions into consideration. Smith said he'd make the task force's Nov. 
10 meeting into a public hearing.

The meeting is scheduled for 3 to 5 p.m. Nov. 10 at the school system's 
Long Street administrative offices. Smith said he might change the time 
from 4 to 6 p.m. to make it easier for the public to attend.

The drug-testing task force has been in the works for months. Its goal is 
to establish one or more forms of student drug testing in all of the school 
system's high schools by the start of the 2006-2007 school year.

It hopes to collect data to determine the scope and nature of local 
schools' drug problem and base its recommendations on that data.

About $25,000 of the school system's 2005-2006 budget has already been set 
aside for drug testing; if the programs were implemented for next year, 
task force members could lobby for more funding beginning in March.
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MAP posted-by: Elizabeth Wehrman