Pubdate: Tue, 08 Jul 2008
Source: Sierra Vista Herald (AZ)
Copyright: 2008 Sierra Vista Herald
Contact:  http://www.svherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1379
Author: Katie Evans
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Test)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

VALLEY UNION HIGH SCHOOL CONSIDERS DRUG TESTING

SIERRA VISTA - Richard Humphries has seen many young  lives ruined by
the use of drugs.

But it hit a little too close to home for the retired  Department of
Public Safety narcotics agent when his  19-year-old daughter admitted
to using marijuana while  attending Valley Union High School in Elfrida.

Now, Humphries wants to get back into the fight against
drugs.

Humphries has been working with the Valley Union High  School school
board to implement random drug and  alcohol testing of students
involved in  school-sponsored extracurricular activities, something
modeled after a program already in place in Willcox.

"Participating in a school-sponsored extracurricular  activity is a
privilege, not a right," a draft of the  proposal read.

For students to participate in the random drug testing,  parents must
sign a consent form, allowing their  children to be tested. If the
parent doesn't sign the  form, the students will be banned from
participating in  extracurricular activities.

Extracurricular activities, for the purpose of this  program, would
include students who ride the bus to and  from school, as well as kids
who drive themselves -  that would mean about 98 percent of the
student  population at the 180-student high school could be  tested,
Humphries said. To ensure that the testing is  random, students
involved in activities would be  assigned a number and a computer will
pick students to  test based solely on the numbers.

If a student tests positive for drugs, the student  would be banned
from participating in extracurricular  activities and required to seek
counseling for drug  use.

"We don't bring the law into this at all," Humphries  said. "That's
not what this is all about.

"It's an attempt at prevention ... it's not  punishment."

Now several months into discussion, after tabling the  topic at
meetings, the issue will again come up at  today's 6 p.m. board
meeting at the high school with  the possibility of it being brought
to a vote.

As the school board again discusses the proposal,  community members
are still divided on how they feel  about the topic.

"I just feel that the high school really needs to be  drug-free," said
Valley Union junior Logan Essary.  "It's against the law. It doesn't
help with learning."

Essary said he's seen drug-using students disrupt  classes on many
occasions, and he believes something  needs to be done.

"I would think that if we put in the drug-testing  policy ... they
would stop doing it at school," he  said. "So I would think it would
help a little bit."

However, Essary doesn't believe that the problem  students are
actually involved in extracurricular  activities.

"I would think that the kids that do drugs don't really  do anything,"
he said. "I don't know how effective it  would be, because most people
in sports don't do drugs  for the fact of not wanting to get caught
and stuff."

Essary, who says he doesn't do drugs, is involved in  football,
baseball and Future Farmers of America.

Elfrida resident Benny Bishop has spoken out at  meetings against the
proposal. "You have kids who are  not involved in the drug scene, and
you are testing  them," he said. "They feel like they're being taken
advantage of if they're doing what they're supposed to  do, and
they're not involved in drugs in any shape or  form.

"Why put them in the same process? Why find yourself in  court dealing
with wrongful accusations, wrongful  charges?"

Bishop believes that any drug policies should just be  targeting
drug-using students.

"My opinion has been, and I have been involved in  education for 40
years, if you have somebody involved  in drugs, you'll know who they
are, and deal with it  either with your school policy, district policy."

Plus, Bishop said, he's concerned that random drug  screenings would
affect involvement in extracurricular  activities that may be the only
thing that get students  through graduation.

"I wouldn't want to be an athlete knowing I was going  to be drug
tested," he said. "Extracurricular  activities get a large number of
kids in school through  graduation, that's why I support
extracurricular  activities."

Having the financial means to execute the policy is a  concern shared
by board member Richard Searle and board  president Mary Appel.

"It's expensive," Appel said, explaining that the  district is being
told it will cost $100 per test. "If  the kids test positive for two
different drugs, then  they retest for those two drugs, that's $100
for each  test."

While the financial burden would fall to the parents  for subsequent
tests and counseling, according to  Appel, she believes that $100 for
the initial  screenings may be too much for the district.

Searle said he was told the tests cost $5 per test in  Willcox, so he
is interested in finding out why there  is such a large difference,
because he feels, at $5-10  a test, it would be financially manageable.

Another concern Appel has is banning kids from riding  the bus if they
test positive. "I'm afraid that they  will drop out, and I don't want
them to drop out," she  said. "That would need to be altered for me to
totally  support it."

"If they're in a position where they can't ride the bus  and they
can't drive their own car, which means their  parents would have to
take them, would they be able  to?" Appel asked, pointing out that
some students live  35 miles away. "I certainly don't want them to be
in a  position where they have to make a choice of dropping  out of
school ... I know that, legally, providing  transportation is a
privilege, but it's really also, in  many cases, a necessity."

Searle is concerned that, after testing positive,  there's really not
a lot of options to help the  students.

"In the offside chance that someone does test positive,  there is very
limited rehab options in the county," he  said. "There's a lack of
options for kids that are not  in the legal system."

However, Searle and Appel agree that such a  drug-screening policy
could give students a reason to  say "no" to drugs.

"The whole idea of the policy is prevention, hoping  kids would have a
reason to say 'no' because they might  get caught and not be able to
participate in  activities," Appel said.

And, even though Bishop is against the policy, he said  the positive
to come out of this is it has the  community talking about drug use in
schools.

"There was progress made in the community when these  things started
getting talked about," he said. "The  worst thing for the school board
to have done was  refuse to accept the facts that there was a problem
on  hand."

And, Bishop said, if the policy is adopted, he will  live with it and
support it, hoping that it will evolve  "into something better than
what it started out to be."

"The danger is not doing anything," he said. "The  lesser danger is
starting out on the wrong track."
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