Pubdate: Sat, 05 May 2007
Source: Columbia Daily Tribune (MO)
Copyright: 2007 Columbia Daily Tribune
Contact:  http://www.columbiatribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/91
Author: Janese Heavin, of the Tribune's staff
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Test)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)
Note: Prints the street address of LTE writers.

SCREENING FOR DRUGS CONSIDERED

Ashland schools weigh extracurricular testing.

Parents in Ashland are being asked whether they would  support drug
testing of high school students.

The proposed policy would require Southern Boone County  High School
students involved in sports or  extracurricular activities to be
tested before they  participate. Students who want parking permits
also  would be required to be tested. Those students would be  subject
to random testing throughout the school year.

"We had a student die of a drug overdose last school  year," high
school Activities Director Pat Lacy said.  "And a survey we sent out
showed that marijuana and  alcohol are being used in our district."

He stressed that neighboring districts, including North  Callaway and
South Callaway, have similar policies.  Southern Boone educators have
been working with those  districts to develop the Ashland proposal.

The school sent out surveys asking parents what they  think about the
plan. The board of education plans to  discuss the proposal at its May
14 meeting.

"With a decision this big, you want to have the support  of your
community," Lacy said. "We're not the first  district looking at drug
testing. You don't know if  it's going to cure the problem, but we
wanted to take  action other districts have already done. We're trying
  to make kids safe."

The Centralia school district also has a drug-testing  policy. In
Hallsville, the school district offers  vouchers to parents who want
to test their teens at  home.

A task force looking at drug use among students in  Columbia Public
Schools has recommended an aggressive  marketing campaign targeting
drug abuse. But the  committee of about 50 people did not recommend
drug  testing and left open the possibility of using dogs to  sniff
out drugs on school parking lots.
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MAP posted-by: Derek