Pubdate: Sun, 26 Jul 1999
Source: Associated Press
Copyright: 1999 Associated Press
Author: John O'Connor

SOME SCHOOLS EXPANDING THEIR DRUG TESTS 

SPRINGFIELD (AP) -- Random drug testing appears to be gaining popularity in
school districts nationwide, targeting not only students who run for
touchdowns but those who ponder Scholastic Bowl questions or take the stage
to sing "Some Enchanted Evening."

The 950-student El Paso school district, 30 miles east of Peoria, decided
this week to take just such a course. The school board approved a costly
program of testing five sixth-to-12th-grade students weekly who participate
in sports or other activities.

"The whole philosophy is deterrence -- one more reason to say 'no' to drugs
and alcohol," said superintendent Jim Miller.

The El Paso school board was reacting to a federal court ruling last year
that approved expanding testing to cover students who want to take part in
after-school activities besides athletics.

The American Civil Liberties Union opposes the idea.

"There's no evidence doing these sort of sweeps gets at any (drug-use)
problem, and the reason for being in school is not just learning basic
things but teaching people how to live in a free society," said Ed Yohnka,
spokesman for the ACLU of Illinois. "You wonder what message you send when
you say, 'You're under suspicion."'

Most of the policies require a student who tests positive for drugs to sit
out a certain number of games or contests after a first offense. A
professional determination of whether the student has a substance-abuse
problem is required, followed by treatment.

An Illinois Association of School Boards survey last year showed just 3
percent of the state's 900 school districts have testing policies, but
schools across the country appear to be turning toward the idea.

"The cheerleader at the bottom of the pyramid, you don't want her on
drugs," said Dennis Chaffin, superintendent of the Glenpool School District
in suburban Tulsa, Okla., which has phased in a program over three years.

Several other Tulsa-area schools have had policies for as long as a decade,
and the Louisiana High School Athletics Association narrowly voted last
winter to require school districts statewide to adopt testing programs, but
only for students playing sports.

"I have very mixed feelings about it, but now that it's a state policy, I
look at it in a positive vein," said Dale Corona, executive director of the
16 high schools in the East Baton Rouge Parish School System in Louisiana.
"We hold our student-athletes to a higher standard."

Jim Flynn, assistant executive director of the Illinois High School
Association, believes few Illinois schools participate because of the cost.

El Paso is budgeting $7,500 to test five students in each of 30 weeks.
That's about the same amount it costs Kewanee High School, 60 miles
northwest of Peoria, which for three years has tested athletes,
cheerleaders and pompom girls, principal Marv Damron said.

Fewer than 10 students have tested positive in three years, Damron said.
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