PROCESS FOR DRUG TESTING IN STUDY

Brunswick School Panel Gets Proposals for Monitoring Staff

BOLIVIA, N.C. - Two drug-testing firms presented proposals Friday to
a Brunswick County, N.C., schools committee as a plan to randomly
test school-system employees inches closer to being implemented by July 1.

The safe schools committee - composed of school board members and
school system employees - heard from Whiteville, N.C.-based
Southeastern Drug Testing Services and Wilmington, N.C.-based Castle
Branch about urine and oral drug-testing techniques and costs.

The school system began looking at random drug testing for its staff
in late 2006 after North Brunswick High School Assistant Principal
Greg Morris was charged with possession of marijuana and indecent
exposure while attending a school-related conference in Atlantic Beach, N.C.

Safe schools committee Chairman Charlie Miller, also a school board
member, said he does not think many employees of the school system
have drug problems.

"It's just the right thing to do for the safety of our employees and
our kids," Miller said.

Half of the school system's 400 bus drivers are now randomly tested
on a quarterly basis at a cost of about $35,000 annually, which
includes testing all new hires.

If the board votes to randomly test staff, at a cost of $35 per
person under Southeastern's plan, that total price tag could be
between $55,000 and $60,000, school officials have said.

The school system has about 1,600 additional employees who would be
subject to the tests. Only 10 percent would be randomly selected for
the tests each school year under the proposal being considered.
School officials estimate about 580 new hires would also be tested annually.

Alton Ray Melton of Southeastern said his company works with schools
in Bladen and Columbus counties, as well as several community
colleges. His proposal would test staff members' urine for the
presence of drugs and could include alcohol for an additional cost.

He said his company can combine random testing with selective testing
if the school system suspects someone of drug use.

"You have some who cannot help themselves," Melton said and added
that the school system must have a policy in place that addresses
positive drug tests. He suggested that those who test positive for
drugs be treated as the state treats those with commercial driver's
licenses who test positive: They are fired on the spot.

Miller said the board would develop a policy that would offer
treatment options.

"There needs to be a step process," Miller said. "I want to offer
some help if the tests come back positive. I want it as discreet and
as private as possible."

Angela Gilbert, drug testing administrator for Castle Branch,
presented a plan that uses oral swabs to test people for drug use.
Unlike Southeastern, which would send a company representative to
administer the test, Castle Branch would designate a school staffer
to monitor the test.

"Who better to know when your teachers are available than your
administrators," Gilbert said.

Gilbert, who said Castle Branch does not administer tests for any
schools under the university level, said testing oral fluids can
detect drug use within about an hour of use, whereas it takes four to
six hours for urine tests to detect use on a drug test.

Under Castle Branch's plan, each urine test would cost $49 and each
oral test would be $35. There would also be a charge for mileage
expenses for the person who administers the urine test.

The safe schools committee did not finalize a recommendation on
whether to suggest to the full school board that random tests should
be implemented. The committee is scheduled to meet again March 1.