Pubdate: Sat, 04 Feb 2006
Source: Branson Daily News (MO)
Copyright: 2006 The Branson Daily News
Contact: (417) 334-4299
Website: http://www.bransondailynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4031
Author: Brandon Cone
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/walters.htm (Walters, John)

SCHOOL-WIDE DRUG TESTING POSSIBLE

While a private St. Louis school draws national  attention for its
pursuit of being the first high  school to require drug tests of all
its students,  public schools are sking if they should seek adopting
similar policies in the future.

Several local schools already test students  participating in
extracurricular activities, but have  yet to look into the pros and
cons of testing their  entire student bodies and the legalities it
would  possibly entail.

I know a lot of people are worried about  privacy concerns,
but they're telling us it'll be kept  confidential," said Tommy Daher, 17,
of Manchester, a  student at Christian Brothers College High School.
I think it's great that we'll be leading  the way  in this."

The school has not decided whether to implement the  program.
Officials have asked parents to respond to a  survey on the idea and
have not set a timetable for a  decision.

Like Christian Brothers, schools around the nation have  been trying
to determine what's helpful, and what's  over the line when it comes
to testing children for  drugs. There's a move in many public schools
to test  athletes or students involved in extracurricular  activities.
Schools testing for steroids are on the  rise.

Hollister School District has been conducting drug  testing on
students who participate in extracurricular  activities since 2004.

Hollister Superintendent Brett Reese said although it  is not
something that has been discussed for Hollister  School District, he
sees how testing all students could  be beneficial for school districts.

"I think it's a decision for each individual school  district," Reese
said. "It wouldn't be necessary in  every school district, but I can
definitely see where  it would be for others. I'm certainly not
opposed to  it."

Private schools have more leeway to set their own  policies, though
the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2002  that schools can conduct random
drug testing on middle  and high school students who participate in
competitive  extracurricular activities. President Bush voiced
support of student drug testing in his 2004 State of  the Union
address, helping to fuel interest, said the  White House Office of
National Drug Control Policy.

I think it's a clear tool not to play  hide-and-seek with this problem,"
said the White House  office's director, John Walters.

He has heard of roughly one school district or private  school a week
starting some form of random drug testing  since last spring. He did
not know of any public  schools attempting mandatory testing of all
its  students, as some private schools are doing.

At Christian Brothers College High, students and  officials of the
school run by a Roman Catholic order  say they have a small drug
problem no worse than other  schools and are looking for an effective
deterrent.  Randomly selected students who test positive would be
offered help and asked to leave school if they fail a  second round of
testing.

If the program moves forward, about 15 students a day  would be
randomly selected for testing at the start of  an academic year until
the entire student body has been  checked. Random tests would continue
during the year.

The Branson school board assigned a task force made up  of students,
parents, employees and board members to  gather more information on
similar policies to those  adopted by other school districts to
randomly test  students participating in extracurricular activities.

Brenda Romine, communication director for the Branson  School District
said that such policies are ones that  all schools will eventually
have to adopt.

"The school board's decision to research and eventually  adopt a
drug-testing policy isn't one that was made  because of a specific
incident or because we feel we  have a problem with drugs," Romine
said. "It's just  something that all schools are facing and eventually
  will have to look into."

Brent Blevins, Forsyth School District assistant  superintendent, said
that although he would not be  opposed to testing the whole student
population he does  not immediately see the benefits of adopting such
a  program.

"Realistically, I don't see how we could enforce  testing every
student, because if someone did test  positive what would the
punishment be?" Blevins said.  "Our obligation is to provide
education. I would much  rather see that money go toward providing a
drug  education class, so that when these kids graduate from  school,
and we're not there to hold their hands they  can go out and make the
right decisions."
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MAP posted-by: Derek