Pubdate: Wed, 18 Apr 2007
Source: Star-News (NC)
Copyright: 2007 Wilmington Morning Star
Contact:  http://www.wilmingtonstar.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/500
Author: Ana Ribeiro, Staff Writer

BRUNSWICK MULLS STUDENT DRUG TESTING

As the Brunswick Board of Education prepares  to vote on a policy to 
require all the school system's  employees to undergo drug testing, 
it may want students  to head in the same direction.

During a meeting held Tuesday at the county government  complex, 
staff and board members discussed this and  other policy and 
curriculum issues. Another hot topic  was the most recent county data 
showing a substantial  gap between black and white students' test 
scores: 27.6 percentage points in math and 13.4 points in 
reading,  for grades three through eight. Although the school  system 
has adopted customized learning programs and  seen some improvement 
since the 2004-05 school year,  it's still seeking reasons for the 
gap, schools spokesman Adam Henning said.

A lengthy discussion on drug screenings preceded the  presentation on 
test scores. If a new policy passes,  each of the school system's 
1,600 employees could face  a drug test. The system would require 
tests of all new  employees and randomly test 10 percent of current 
ones.  Currently, only employees who drive school vehicles are 
required to be tested, Henning said.

Board member Jimmy Hobbs suggested doing the same to  students, 
although some factors stand in the way.

"We need some answers. We need some help," Hobbs said.  "Random 
testing will help identify the students with a  drug problem, but not 
the suppliers."

Also, schools that conduct random drug testing usually  do so only 
with athletes and others with after-school  activities, Henning said. 
The argument is that students  who use drugs should also be entitled 
to an education,  although extracurricular activities could be 
considered  privileges and be taken away as punishment for drug  use, he said.

The county school system is currently waiting on data  from districts 
that have such testing, the spokesman  said. One option, he said, 
would be to also classify  driving a privilege to be revoked, which 
could allow  the inclusion of more students in the random testing.

In a 2006 survey of the county's middle and high school  students, 22 
percent of those responding said they had  smoked marijuana, while 
6.7 said they used prescription  drugs as stimulants.

"We need to send a message loud and clear, that drug  use will not be 
tolerated," Hobbs said.
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