Pubdate: Sun, 10 Jun 2007
Source: Longview News-Journal (TX)
Copyright: 2007 Cox Newspapers, L.P
Contact:  http://www.news-journal.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1048
Author: Maggie Souza
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States)

AREA DRUG TESTING CATCHES ON

Before hundreds of students at Gladewater High School were allowed to 
play a sport, join the band or participate in any other UIL 
organization during the 2006-07 school year, they were given a 
requirement they'd never had before: They had to pass a drug test.

While that practice is nothing new for a growing multitude of 
students throughout the nation, Gladewater Independent School 
District took a unique approach when implementing its policy by 
requiring every student who wanted to join any UIL activity to pass a 
drug test at the beginning of the year.

About 350 of the 550 high school students were given a packet 
detailing the procedures and the consequences of testing positive, 
also known as non-negative, for a drug. Students who agreed to the 
rules were later called from class and had to report to the athletic 
room for their testing. Throughout the rest of the year, about 25 
students were randomly tested, as were any transfer students who 
wanted to take part in an extracurricular activity.

The program's first year was a success, said Athletic Director Scott 
Callaway, though he would not say how many students tested 
non-negative. At $14 per drug test, the district spent about $5,250 
of its general funds for the whole year.

It was money well spent, Callaway and Superintendent Mike Morrison say.

"It gives our kids a deterrent from the peer pressure of 
experimenting," Callaway said. "It gives them an out."

"It's a good thing for our students," Morrison echoed. "They choose 
to be in extracurricular activities. We want to represent our schools 
and our community well."

Gladewater ISD's drug-testing policy comes years after Longview, 
Spring Hill and Pine Tree ISDs began theirs.

According to officials from the respective districts, Spring Hill 
began its program before 2000, Pine Tree's started around 2002 and 
Longview's was implemented in 2004.

Spring Hill and Pine Tree school districts do their testing a little 
differently than Gladewater and Longview school districts. Instead of 
testing everyone beforehand, they randomly test a greater amount of 
students throughout the school year. Because of costs, this is the 
most common method, said an official with the National Federation of 
State High School Associations.

Another difference is the testing range. Longview and Pine Tree 
school districts test seventh- and eighth-graders in addition to high 
schoolers, while Gladewater and Spring Hill ISDs limit it to high schoolers.

Athletic directors and trainers from each district say their programs 
have been successful thus far, citing the "out" it gives students who 
may otherwise be pressured into trying drugs. And officials from 
every district stress the fact that the purpose of drug testing is 
not to find and punish students using illegal drugs but to prevent it 
from happening.

"We're not trying to catch anybody," said Pat Collins, director of 
extracurricular activities for Longview ISD. "We're hoping that we're 
going to have a clean slate (when we test)."

During the past school year, Longview ISD tested about 715 students. 
Of that, six tested positive for marijuana and one for steroids, Collins said.

Steroid testing is separate from drug testing -- and at $125 a test, 
about 10 times more expensive. Longview ISD is the only district of 
the four that do it now, although if a bill currently before Gov. 
Rick Perry becomes law, all Texas high schools will have to 
administer state-funded steroid testing to athletes.

Longview is able to test all of its students involved in 
extracurricular activities for drugs and steroids because of a grant 
it has had since 2005 that covers its expenses, which ran to about 
$109,000 this past year, Collins said. Spring Hill and Pine Tree 
districts spend about $7,000 to $10,000 a year on their programs, and 
like Gladewater, they pay for it from school funds. In all cases, the 
student pays nothing.

Pine Tree and Spring Hill school districts rely on random tests to 
keep students away from drugs. Spring Hill ISD tests about 40 or 50 
students each month, while Pine Tree tests between 20 and 30 students 
each cycle, and may test as many as three times a month.

The four districts have very similar punishments in place for 
students who test positive for substances. The first offense 
generally warrants a three-to four-week suspension from the 
after-school activity, along with parental notification and mandatory 
or suggested counseling. On the second offense, the suspension time 
is doubled, as may be the time in counseling. The third time, a 
student is suspended from the UIL activity for the rest of his or her 
high school career.

It's fair punishment if you ask baseball player Nick Clifton, 17, who 
recently graduated from Gladewater High School.

"It should be that way," Clifton said. "You shouldn't get an easy 
punishment for what you do."

The new policy wasn't a big deal to him or to most of his peers, he 
said, adding that he thought it was a good practice.

"I know it helped a lot of people that I know that are into (drugs 
and alcohol)," Clifton said. "They stopped it and said, 'Hey, we 
gotta focus on sports and not do all that because I want to play.' " 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake