STUDENTS, OFFICIALS DISCUSS CRAFTING DRUG-TESTING POLICY

SILVER LAKE -- Random drug testing for athletes received favorable but not
unanimously favorable reviews from the high school student council.

Steve Pegram, superintendent of Silver Lake Unified School District 372,
updated the school board at Monday's meeting on efforts to craft a random
drug-testing policy. He told the board that school officials also met with a
high school site council of parents and staff, and they also support such a
policy.

Random drug-testing discussions were sparked after maintenance workers this
summer discovered four hypodermic needles while power spraying the boys'
locker room at Silver Lake High School, Pegram said.

He said he suspected the needles were used to inject steroids, but they have
been turned over to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation for analysis. The
district is awaiting those results, he said.

Pegram attended an Oct. 2 student council meeting in which he answered
questions about a drug-testing policy and recorded the pros and cons
students listed. The pros included, "Students would think twice about using
drugs;" and the cons included, "Students would lose some privacy rights."
Out of 14 participants, seven said the board should proceed, three said it
shouldn't, and four had no opinion.

The next step, Pegram said, is to publish information about a random
drug-testing policy in a district newsletter and request feedback. School
board members have received copies of random drug policies used in other
school districts and are selecting the elements they like and dislike.

Pegram said he planned to update the school board during its next meeting on
the community input he receives. He would present a draft policy in January.
The board then would have two months to make adjustments before approving a
draft of the policy to be discussed during community forums. Final action
would be taken in late April or May.

In other business, the board:

• Heard a report on an energy management system. The district signed a
contract with EPM in the amount of about $131,500 to install a computerized
energy management system. The sytem is projected to pay for itself through
energy savings in 18 months. The elementary system should be installed
within the month. Because of the complexity of the the high school building,
that system probably won't be installed until this summer, Pegram said.

• Discussed an Oct. 30 meeting about the status of Silver Lake High School's
club soccer team. The school board is in the midst of a three-year review of
the program. Pegram said the board expressed concerns that the approximately
15-member team was too small.