LIBERAL SCHOOLS TO REQUIRE RANDOM TESTS FOR DRUGS

LIBERAL, Kan. - Liberal schools will require random drug tests of its
middle and high school students in extracurricular activities
beginning in the fall, said Kerry Roberts, superintendent of Liberal
schools.

The Liberal Unified School District 480 school board voted Monday to
implement the policy, which is similar to one implemented by Dumas
Independent School District in Texas, Roberts said.

"So many schools have it," said Roberts, who added that the district
began looking at implementing the policy two years ago. "These
students (in extracurricular activities) are usually people that
other kids look up to. And if it's accidentally found, it allows that
parent to get them some help. The parent may not know."

Students in the seventh through 12th grades will be tested under the
policy. The district, every two weeks, will randomly select 12
students from Liberal High School and three students from each of the
two middle schools, Roberts said.

Parents will need to sign a permission form for their children to
participate, Roberts said. Parents' refusal to sign will forfeit
their student's right to participate in extracurricular activities.

If a student tests positive for alcohol or narcotics in the
urinalysis, the student will still be able to participate in
after-school activities, but will be barred from competitions or
public performances, Roberts said.

Two weeks later, the student will be tested again. If the test comes
up positive again, the school can either suspend the student's
extracurricular activities for a calender year or allow the student
to participate on the condition he or she takes a drug test and tests
negative each month for a year, Roberts said.

"This policy is not disciplinary or punitive in nature," Roberts
said, reading from the policy.

Several school districts across the area test their extracurricular
students on a regular basis. Both Woodward, Okla. and Guymon, Okla.
have drug testing policies, Roberts said.

Lockney ISD in Texas had to radically change its mandatory,
suspicion-less, drug testing policy of all students after a federal
judge ruled it unconstitutional. One of the conditions in the
settlement of that case required the district to make drug testing
voluntary and based on suspicion, according to court documents.

Tulia ISD, also in Texas, is appealing a court decision against the
district's drug-testing policy. On Nov. 30, U.S. District Judge Mary
Lou Robinson in Amarillo ruled in favor of Hollister Gardner and his
cousins, Molly and Colby, who filed lawsuits in January 1997 to
protest the school district's "mandatory, suspicion-less" drug
testing policy of students involved in extracurricular activities.

Roberts said he hopes to avoid any court problems.

"We had the policy looked at very carefully through the school
district attorney to make certain that what could be done was legal,"
Roberts said.