SMITH HOPES TO STEER STUDENT TESTING TOWARD INTERVENTION

Officials with the Rowan-Salisbury School System say they want to
make the random drug testing program more consistent and helpful to
students next year.

Student Services Director Tim Smith told members of the
Rowan-Salisbury Board of Education Monday that he wanted the program
to be geared toward intervention, not punishment.

The board approved implementing random drug testing last year and
testing started toward the beginning of the current school year.

Students who wish to obtain school parking permits are subject to
random drug testing. Students who signed up for Choices, the
voluntary part of the drug testing program, can also be tested.

So far this year, 140 high school students have been tested and six
of those results have come back positive.

Those positive results have been spread equally among high schools
and the number of positive results hasn't exceeded two at any school,
Smith said.

Smith told a Post reporter that he didn't think drug problems should
be viewed by individual schools.

"It really is a system-wide concern," he said. "It's something that
we need to work on throughout our system."

Those 140 tests have cost the school system about $6,000. Each test
costs $35 and the outside representative who comes to the school to
conduct the tests charges $40 per hour.

After each positive result, the school system pays a medical review
officer to look at the findings to verify prescriptions for
medications that may appear. That service costs $10 per positive result.

Smith said many lessons have been learned since drug testing began.
He gave board members several recommendations for improving the program.

"We don't test consistently," Smith said.

Students who are tested through the parking permit and Choice
programs are asked to produce urine samples. Students in Allied
Health classes must take a mouth swab drug test to do internships at
outside healthcare facilities.

Smith pointed out that the school system was using ProMed, a third
party, to do drug tests for those with parking permits and the
Choices program. Someone at school conducts drug tests for Allied
Health students, he said.

With a positive result, those enrolled in the program through parking
permits will lose their driving privileges for 90 days.

If an Allied Health student tests positive they simply don't get to
participate in an internship.

"We need to test everyone the same way ... it's inconsistent and it's
a big concern of mine."

As far as consequences, "Right now it just depends on the way you get
caught," Smith told board members.

Students who are suspected of drug possession or use at school can
also be tested or searched. If drugs are found or a test is positive,
the Rowan-Salisbury code of conduct calls for a 10-day suspension and
then an assessment to try and find if the student has a problem.

An assessment is not done with the parking permit program.

"We should offer the same services to every one of them. I want the
program to be a program that helps students. The most critical part
of this program is the intervention piece," Smith said.

He also talked about how the mandatory 10-day suspension under the
code of conduct can set some students up for failure.

Smith said that next year he'll be looking for ways to keep students
in school while getting them help.

At the same time, Smith said the system isn't giving up its right to
randomly test a child if their is reasonable suspicion. Sometimes
suspension or expulsion becomes necessary even though the main
objective is to help the child.

"Obviously we can't have a dealer in our schools," Smith said.

But he said that next year, "Hopefully the consequences would be more
consistent and be more on the intervention side," he said.

In Smith's recommendations to the board, he suggested expanding the
random drug testing program to all extracurricular activities.

He said many students drive, but by including extracurricular
activities like sports, band and clubs, the much larger pool of
students would help school officials identify more who need help.

Smith's other recommendations for next year were:

* Continue to test students who wish to obtain parking permits.

* Utilize Choice Program for prevention education at the middle schools.

* All drug tests conducted in the Rowan-Salisbury Schools will be
consistent and conducted by a third party including required testing
for Allied Health students.

* All students who test positive will be required to go through the
assessment process and meet with the intervention specialist prior to
returning to school.

* The intervention specialist will schedule follow-up session to
monitor any potential problems.

Also during Monday's school board meeting:

* Chairman Bryce Beard announced that new board member Patty Williams
wanted him to read a statement about why she would be late getting to meetings.

The statement said that Williams is employed by the Kannapolis City
Schools and is required to attend the Kannapolis board meetings at 6
p.m. on the same night as Rowan-Salisbury meetings.

Williams wrote that she wasn't late because of a mismanagement of
time but because of her employment requirements.

Her responsibility to the Rowan-Salisbury Board of Education is a
very important one and something she takes very seriously, Beard read.

* Dr. Rebecca Smith, assistant superintendent for curriculum, shared
a DVD presentation that gave board members an overview of how
teachers and administrators have benefited from the new Literacy
Coaches and curriculum Facilitators.

* Rita Foil, public information office, gave an update on the
system's new Connect-ED telephone communication system.

Foil said the system had an 84 percent live answer rate. Of those
other 16 percent that aren't answered by a person or an answering
machine, schools get a report of those numbers so they can try to
obtain correct information.

Foil said feedback on the new system had been positive.