Pubdate: Sat, 18 Jul 2015
Source: Albuquerque Journal (NM)
Copyright: 2015 Albuquerque Journal
Contact:  http://www.abqjournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/10
Author: Elaine D. Briseno

RRPS TO TEST STUDENT ATHLETES FOR DRUGS

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Suiting up will now come with the possibility of a
random drug test for athletes in the Rio Rancho school district.

The school board on Monday unanimously passed a policy that will allow
for the random drug testing of students in grades eight through 12 who
are playing on a district sports team.

Rio Rancho Public Schools is the first public school district in the
metro area to drug test its athletes. District officials will inform
parents of the policy during the annual mandatory meeting Cleveland
and Rio Rancho high schools hold for the parents of all athletes at
the beginning of each school year.

Bruce Carver, the district's athletics director, brought the policy to
the board a few months ago, saying he was doing it at the request of
his head coaches.

"This is a unified push," he told the board Monday. "This is not a
top-down mandate. It came from the ground up. And, remember, this is a
deterrent, not a punishment."

Carver said the policy will give athletes a way to resist peer
pressure to do drugs. The board did not discuss the policy during the
meeting, but board members had indicated previously that they thought
the policy was necessary.

After questions from board member Catherine Cullen, Carver clarified
that, although steroids were listed in the policy as a "prohibited
substance," they would not actually be among the drugs for which the
district tests.

"It's very, very expensive to test for that," he said. "We included it
in the policy because we want to discourage our athletes from using
steroids."

Drugs that the students will be tested for include alcohol, opiates,
marijuana, cocaine, amphetamines, methadone and barbiturates. The
tests will be done on school grounds with a swab by a contractor.
Carver said the results will be sent to a lab and returned within two
days. He said it's possible to get immediate results, but sending the
sample to a lab ensures better results.

The contractor will randomly choose students to be tested and notify
the school of the names no more than 24 hours in advance.

Students who test positive will be suspended for 20 consecutive
activity days, will be required to participate in a conference with
coaches and parents, and must attend counseling. Consequences will be
more severe on the second violation and students will be permanently
banned from playing sports with RRPS after a third violation.

Drug testing will cost the district up to $25,000 a year.
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