Pubdate: Tue, 10 Oct 2006
Source: Eastern Arizona Courier (AZ)
Copyright: 2006, Eastern Arizona Courier
Contact:  http://www.eacourier.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1674
Author: Adam Gaub, Assistant Editor

SAFFORD EMBRACES DRUG TESTING FOR STUDENTS

Editor's note: This is the first in a two-part series  on drugs in 
local schools. Wednesday's story features  an upcoming town hall 
meeting and other ideas and  problems that will be discussed.

Safford High School kicked off random drug testing for  all students 
participating in extracurricular  activities this fall, following a 
similar move by  Thatcher and Pima high schools.

There is yet to be an official drug-testing policy  across the state, 
but the Arizona School Boards  Association adopted a document on drug 
testing in 2004  on which local schools are basing their policies. 
Each  school takes a slightly different approach in  disciplining offenders.

Safford Principal Rich DeRidder said the testing, which  is conducted 
at the high schools by the Graham County  Probation Department, is 
not focused on busting the  students for drug violations but rather 
helping them to  say no.

"The focus is to help the kids," DeRidder said. "If you  are testing 
them to catch them and punish them, then  (you shouldn't) do it."

Safford School District Superintendent Mark Tregaskes  said the 
initial testing this year has turned up some  positive test results.

"The numbers at this time are low, and we hope they  continue to stay 
low," Tregaskes said.

There are punishments involved with testing positive at  all three 
high schools, and each school takes a  slightly different approach. 
What is common among all  schools and emphasized in the drug-testing 
policy is  that a positive test will not affect the students'  classwork.

"The drug testing in no way affects academic standing,"  Pima High 
School Athletic Director Tony Goodman said.  Goodman was a member of 
the Pima School Board when the  drug-testing policy was adopted three 
years ago.  Thatcher also adopted its drug policy before the 
start  of the 2004-2005 school year.

"The result is they lose their right to participate in 
extracurricular activity until they test clean,"  Goodman said.

There was not a single student at Pima qho lost  eligibility because 
of a positive drug test during the  last school year, Goodman said, 
but he does not deny  that a drug problem exists.

"We'd be burying our heads in the sand if we said there  wasn't a 
drug problem," Goodman said.

Punishment and treatment for offenders

The punishments range from being ineligible for any  extracurricular 
activity until the student tests clean  (Safford and Pima) to the 
harsher penalty of being  dismissed from extracurricular activities 
for the  entirety of the remaining grading period and all of 
the  next grading period at Thatcher.

"It's got kid's attention and slowed things down,"  Thatcher 
Principal Paul Nelson said. "We tested last  year and this year, and 
it's actually been really good  for us."

Nelson said Thatcher doesn't really have much of a  problem with its 
athletes and other extracurricular  participants now, but it wasn't 
always that way.

"We had problems with some of the athletes involved in  drug usage in 
the past," Nelson said. "I think (the  drug testing) is a protection 
for the kids. It gives  them another reason to say ‘No, I'm not 
doing  that.'"

The issue of a deterrent is important for DeRidder, who  said drug 
testing is designed to catch kids who may be  tempted to try drugs 
but won't so they can stay  involved in extra-curricular activities.

"This drug testing is for those. . . trying to fight  the peer 
pressure and (this) gives them a reason to say  no," DeRidder said.

A pair of seniors on the Thatcher volleyball team said  the drug 
testing is making a difference.

"I like having it there because it's reassurance,"  Meghan Skinner, 
17, said. "You're not going to worry  (that) your other teammates 
aren't going to be there."

Senior Shaka Orr, 18, said while the drug testing was  weird to deal 
with at first, it is really helping the  students participating in 
extracurricular activities.

"(It helps) for sure during the season," Orr said.

DeRidder also said the drug testing can be used to nip  potential 
users in the bud.

"If we can identify those who have a real problem, we  can give our 
kids a chance," DeRidder said.

An important aspect of the drug testing program at  Safford is the 
rehabilitation provided to the students,  DeRidder said.

"I meet with the parents as soon as possible, and we  have mandatory 
sessions," DeRidder said.

The original tests are what is called a dipstick test,  which gives a 
preliminary indication if there is any  drug in the system of the 
student tested. DeRidder said  for each dipstick test that comes back 
positive, it  gets sent by the probation department to a lab for 
further analysis.

The initial tests are conducted by Graham County  Probation at no 
cost to the schools because of a grant  the probation department 
received. Tregaskas said  Safford does pay out of its general fund to 
contract with a lab to do the in-depth testing for samples that  come 
back positive on the dipstick test.

DeRidder said if it is confirmed the student has tested  positive, 
they are taken out of extracurricular  activities until they can test 
clean, which he said  would be three to four weeks at a minimum 
before being  retested. If they then test clean, the student could be 
reinstated in the activities from which they were  dropped.

There are team rules at Safford determined by the  coaches that are 
more severe, however, including being  kicked off a team for that 
year permanently.

"Coaches have been given the latitude to increase the  minimums for 
their programs," Tregaskas said.

SUBHED: A new frontier in the drug war

Drug testing is a new tactic available to schools after  it was 
declared constitutional by the U.S. Supreme  Court in June 2002. In 
writing for the majority  decision, Justice Clarence Thomas said, "We 
find that  testing students who participate in extracurricular 
activities is a reasonably effective means of  addressing the school 
district's legitimate concerns in  preventing, deterring and 
detecting drug use."

DeRidder said the push for testing at Safford was  mainly based on 
what parents, students, and even  members of his own family were saying.

"We've had to base (the implementation) on rumors,"  DeRidder said. 
"Hearing my own daughters talk about the  (drug use), I thought we 
really did have a problem."

Fort Thomas has yet to implement a drug-testing system  that uses the 
benefit of the probation department's  assistance, but Principal 
Shane Hawkins has heard some  of the same concerns DeRidder did.

"The community and (school) board has discussed (drug  testing)," 
Hawkins said. "I think it would help  students."

Fort Thomas instead participates in the Arizona  Interscholastic 
Association's "Pursuing Victory With  Honor Program," the only school 
in Graham County that  is a fully accredited member. The program 
trains  coaches to help build leadership, good sportsmanship  and 
healthy habits in their students.

"We try to institute good sportsmanship, and part of  that is to keep 
your body healthy," Hawkins said.

The implementation of the drug-testing program has not  been an issue 
at the three other schools.

"It's been really smooth," Nelson said. "We haven't  really had 
anyone complain about it."

Thatcher volleyball head coach Krista Brown said with  the drug 
testing in place, the students know beforehand  what is expected of them.

"They don't even come out for the team if they know  they are going 
to do drugs," Brown said.

One of the concerns brought up at a meeting of the SAVE  organization 
- -- which will be hosting a town hall on  Oct. 26 to discuss issues 
like drug use in schools --  was the use of new over-the-counter 
drugs and  prescription drugs like oxycontin. Nelson said the 
drug  testing should pick up on methamphetamine and THC as  well as 
other prescription drugs.

"There are new drugs coming up all the time that (the  drug testing) 
doesn't catch, but it is pretty  inclusive," Goodman said.

All of the high schools test students randomly, either  testing 
entire teams or clubs at once or having a  computer generate a random 
list of names. Once a  student tests positive and that test is 
verified, however, that student will continue to be tested each  time 
a test is conducted, DeRidder said.

"We've not had a problem with anyone not wanting to be  tested," 
Thatcher volleyball assistant coach Kim Orr  said. "I think (the 
students) realize that drugs aren't  tolerable when you are doing sports."

While Thatcher's restrictions for first-time failure  are more 
stringent than the other schools, punishment  for second-time 
offenders at Safford eliminates that  student from extracurricular 
activity for 88 days or  until the end of the school year, whichever 
comes  first.

In the end, it's not the punishment, but the help the  drug-testing 
program can provide the students that is  the real motivation behind 
it's growing implementation.

"I think it's a great deterrent," Goodman said. "It's  really helped 
us with our athletes and our Knowledge  Bowl teams."
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MAP posted-by: Elaine