Pubdate: Sun, 13 Jul 2008
Source: Green Bay Press-Gazette (WI)
Copyright: 2008 Green Bay Press-Gazette
Contact:
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/contact/forms/editor_letter.shtml
Website: http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/879
Author: Patti Zarling
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)

DE PERE SCHOOL DISTRICT DRUG POLICY APPEARS TO BE WORKING

'Nothing Pressing' That Must Be Changed In Code

DE PERE -- The first year of the De Pere School  District's random
drug policy appears to have helped  curb the problems of drinking and
drug use among  students, school officials say.

It's too early to draw conclusions about the  effectiveness of the
policy, but De Pere High School  Principal Annette Brace thinks the
random tests, along  with a host of other programming, is helping
reduce  drinking and drug use.

"I believe that's what it's done," Brace said.

The School Board adopted an updated co-curricular code that includes
random drug or alcohol testing for the  2007-2008 school year. It
applies to students who  participate in after-school activities, who
have  parking permits or are members of a club pledging to  stay clean.

Officials also did random Breathalyzer tests at school  dances and
other functions.

Among the 364 students randomly tested during the past  academic year,
the school found fewer than 10 either  tested positive or refused to
be tested, Brace said.  She declined to cite an exact number, saying
that might  identify who the students were.

But positive tests weren't the point of the policy, she
said.

"Our goal was never to catch kids doing bad things,"  she said. "It
was to encourage healthier behaviors."

The school also brings in the De Pere Police  Department's K-9 officer
to sniff for drugs and it has  a tip-off policy in which kids can
bring it to the  school's attention if they suspect a classmate is
under  the influence.

The school also hosted a number of programs to raise  awareness among
students and parents. They included a  series of informational
meetings organized with the  parents group and a school social worker,
covering  topics like talking to kids about drinking and drugs  and a
discussion about sexual abuse.

A committee of students, parents and staff met in late June to review
the testing. A survey also went out to  every household in the
district, the principal said.

They found "nothing pressing" had to be changed, Brace said. She
intends to send out information to address  some common questions.

The Green Bay School District also updated its  co-curricular code,
spokeswoman Amanda Brooker said.

Although leaders discussed including random drug tests, they didn't
do so, she said. No other Brown County  school districts have a
similar policy. De Pere modeled  its code after the Kimberly School
District's.

The De Pere district incurs no cost for the random tests. Bellin
Health administered them as part of its  partnership with the district
for athletic training.

The district will continue to monitor the code, though  Brace said she
expects no major changes for the  upcoming school year.

And although results appear encouraging, Brace said it's too soon to
tell.

"It's only been a year, we can't take the results and say 'Yay, drugs
are out of the school and we can stop  now,'" she said.

"One year's data is not conclusive."
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin