Pubdate: Sat, 21 May 2005 Source: Southern Illinoisan (Carbondale, IL) Copyright: 2005 Southern Illinoisan Contact: http://www.TheSouthern.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1430 Author: Caleb Hale Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Test) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth) A-J closes campus, considers drug testing ANNA - Administrators at Anna-Jonesboro Community High School plan to closed-campus lunch hour policy for freshmen next year policy for students who participate in extracurricular activities or those who use the campus parking lot. The two policies are meant to pull the reins on some problems the school district currently faces among its students - students loitering on private property near campus, freshmen failure rates and drug use. The closed-campus policy will be enacted upon incoming freshmen for the 2005 fall semester. A-J Principal Jim Woodward said the procedure creates open campus as a reward for freshmen who do well in school and stay out of trouble. The new policy essentially says that lunch hour for freshmen will be split into two sections. Half the class will be in the school auditorium for 20 minutes, receiving extra help in study habits and class work from administrators and volunteer teachers, while the other students are eating in the cafeteria. The two halves then switch places. Students at all levels receive grade point average progress reports every four and a half weeks, Woodward said. The freshmen's progress reports will be used to gauge whether they get to leave campus at lunch. "If the student is passing all of their classes, then they go back to an open campus," he said. Students' progress continues to be monitored every four and half weeks. Students who begin to fail any class will be put back into the closed-campus program until the next progress report shows they are passing. Superintendent Bill Schildknecht said he doesn't expect the program to affect most students after the initial progress report. "After the first of the grades are out, probably two-thirds or three-fourths of them will be excused," Schildknecht said. Lower classmen at A-J have largely been blamed for trespassing and damaging private property near campus. The problem has persisted for years, but earlier this year Anna police cracked down, citing 18 students in one day for violations. Woodward said students in all classes have contributed to the loitering problem, mostly because of their desire to smoke. The main reason for implementing the closed-campus policy is to help younger high school students get a handle on the changes they've experienced from junior high. "It seems like every year we have a nucleus of freshmen who, because we throw so much at them, we lose them," Woodward said. He said some students suddenly free to wander the town for an hour in the middle of the day often act out. The closed-campus policy is meant to keep those not quite ready for every new responsibility in high school to slow things down and get the help they need to continue a successful educational career. The same goes for the proposed drug testing policy, Woodward said. It subjects students who choose to participate in sports, clubs or those who use the parking lot to random drug screenings. "My intention is never to catch a kid," Woodward said. "My intention is to give them an incentive not to do drugs." Schildknecht said the policy rests on the reasoning that students who participate in extracurricular activities or use the school parking lot are receiving privileges from the district. Woodward said those privileges can be stripped away if the student is found using drugs. He said it essentially puts the ball in the student's court as to whether he or she wants to risk losing access to a club or a sport, because he or she decides to use drugs. The school board intends to discuss the drug testing policy at its next meeting. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek