Recommendation To Keep Offenders From Practices The new drug-testing policy for the Wichita Falls Independent School District is so new it hasn't even been officially tested yet, but it's already getting a tweaking. At least, it's expected to, once administrators get a chance to study a warning passed along by Dr. Harvey Graves, founder and CEO of Pinnacle Medical Management Corp., the company hired by the district to handle its drug testing. Graves advised WFISD officials that if athletes test positive for drug use and are suspended according to district rules, they should not be allowed to practice with their teams. [continues 282 words]
It wasn't unanimous, but almost. School board members for the Wichita Falls Independent School District voted Monday to put a drug testing policy in place, starting in August, for a cost of $15,000 to $24,000 annually. The as-of-yet-funded program will do random drug testing of 120 students in ninth through 12th grade on five to eight occasions throughout the year. All tested students will come from the pool of about 1,200 students who participate in school-sponsored extracurricular activities. [continues 511 words]
School Board Hears Plea To Help Students Any child can buy any drug within three blocks of any school in Wichita Falls, according to Dr. Brian Hull, a Wichita Falls physician and assistant team physician for Wichita Falls High School. "You know it's the truth," Hull told Wichita Falls Independent School District board members in an impassioned plea Monday during a school board open forum address. He argued for a drug-testing program to test all students and staff. "Unfortunately, I'm in the know," Hull said, explaining that he's cared for everyone from principals to police officers and that he's heard stories of drug abuse from every angle. "I see too much," he said. "I hear too much." [continues 463 words]
You know the bus driver who shuttles your child to school doesn't take drugs. But you can't say the same about your child's teacher. Even though pre-employment drug and alcohol testing has become a standard in the business world, local teachers and Midwestern State University professors are routinely hired without it. It's not a big enough issue to justify the cost, say education officials in both camps. But Wichita Falls City Manager Jim Berzina begs to differ. The pre-employment tests and the random testing of those already hired by the city is, unfortunately, necessary, he said. [continues 1232 words]
"You have a right to say no. To anybody about anything." Police officer Kris Holub strides around the Bonham Elementary sixth-grade classroom in full police attire, complete with loaded gun and holster, teaching basic, but vital, communication skills. "Except your dad," said a sixth-grader. "Well, you have a right to do it," said Holub. "Will there be consequences if you say it at an inappropriate time?" "Yes." "No one can tell you that you can't say no. Don't let people take that right away from you," Holub said. [continues 1138 words]
