Pubdate: Thu, 17 Nov 2005 Source: Athens News, The (OH) Copyright: 2005, Athens News Contact: http://www.athensnews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1603 Author: Jim Phillips, staff writer Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States) NEW ALEXANDER BOARD MEMBERS SAY THEY'LL MOVE CAREFULLY ON DRUG POLICY Controversy over a student drug-testing policy in the Alexander Local School District probably played a part in the outcome of the Nov. 8 election, in which voters replaced two school-board incumbents who supported the policy, and re-elected a third incumbent who did not. However, the two new board members both told The Athens NEWS this week that they didn't run on the issue of ditching the drug testing, and probably won't be in a big hurry to address the topic once they take their seats in January. The policy, adopted by the board earlier this year, requires students who engage in athletics or cheerleading, or drive to school, to undergo urine testing for drug and alcohol use. A more recent attempt to expand it to include new hires to the district was shelved after it failed to win support from one of the board members who voted for the original policy. New board members Gordon Brooks and Mike Chapman both acknowledged that the policy, which met with fierce opposition from some district parents, helped spark their decisions to run. However, they also stressed that the way the policy was adopted is a symptom of the current board's lack of accountability, which they consider the real problem that needed to be addressed in the Nov. 8 election. "My only complaint was the lack of communication with the community about the old policy," Chapman explained. Brooks agreed. "They (adopted) it without any input -- that's my big issue," he said. In the recent election, voters unseated Synthia Clary and Stephen Thomas, who had both voted in favor of adopting the drug-testing policy. Clary later balked at expanding the policy to new hires, suggesting that the initial policy had not been in place long enough to properly assess its effectiveness. In addition to putting Brooks and Chapman on the board, voters gave a strong thumbs-up to incumbent Fred Davis, the lone holdout on the board in the original drug-testing vote. Davis pulled the most votes of any candidate out of a six-candidate field. Two other incumbents who supported the testing policy, Dale Sinclair and board President Dave Kasler, were not up for re-election and will remain on the board. Very active in the election campaign was a new citizen group, Alexander Citizens for a Responsive School Board (ACRSB), which supported Davis and opposed Clary and Thomas. NEITHER BROOKS NOR Chapman said they have any plans to immediately go after the drug-testing policy as new board members. "I'm definitely going to need to look at the issues," Brooks said. "The school board has some information that the general public doesn't have. It's definitely something I'm going to look at, but I can't make any promises." Chapman was even more cautious, suggesting that the board should take a wait-and-see approach, giving the policy some time before assessing whether it's good or bad for the district. "We have to treat this like any other policy," he said. "And now that it's implemented, we just have to let it run its course... If it's a good thing, and we see it's a good thing, it's obviously going to stay. It's no different from a new reading policy." Both men also emphasized that the dispute over the policy already has pulled the district in two different directions, and the last thing they want to do is come onto the board and immediately make the controversy worse. "There's people that support it, and there's people that are against it," Chapman said. "My job is to do what's best for the community, and I don't know what that is right now." Brooks said, "My big fear is, if we don't talk about this carefully, we cause even bigger turmoil in the district. Right now, one group is upset, and if we go in and make a big change, another group is going to be upset." He added that despite the strong feelings of some ACRSB members against the drug testing, he has undergone no arm-twisting from members who want him to try to repeal the policy. "Absolutely not," he reported. "I've met with a few of the ACRSB people a few times. I've explained my position to them, and they understand it perfectly. They just want someone to look at (the policy) reasonably." The Alexander school board meets tonight. The drug-testing policy is not listed as an agenda item, though it always can be raised for discussion by citizens during the public-comment period. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin