SCHOOL SYSTEM DRUG-TESTING PROGRAM CATCHES 13

Since adopting new drug testing guidelines in 2005, the
Alamance-Burlington School System has tested 386 students. Of those,
13 tested positive for using drugs.

The system's executive director of school administration, Wayne Beam,
offered the numbers at a school board retreat Friday and said,"This
has gone extremely well."

Beam offered few details about the students who tested positive for
drugs. The greatest number of positive results at any single school
was four, and the lowest number was one. Beam said about half the
students who tested positive admitted they would fail before the test
results were returned. Students who test positive once are asked to
re-test. No student has failed the test twice.

A student who tests positive is barred from participating in
extracurricular activities, including sports, for 90 days. A second
positive test results in a longer prohibition from activities. With a
third positive test, the student is banned from activities for the
remainder of his high school career. In October 2005, the school
system implemented a policy of random drug testing for all students
involved in extracurricular activities. The policy came in the wake of
an undercover police operation in which dozens of students were
arrested on drug charges.

Approximately 71 percent of the county's high school students
participate in extracurricular activities like sports, clubs, or band
and are eligible to be tested. Students are chosen for the test based
on their student identification numbers rather than their names.

Beam said the purpose of the policy isn't to catch kids using drugs,
but rather to act as a deterrent for kids who are considering using
but know they could be tested.

Beam's office is also in charge of testing certain employees for drug
use, including all employees who drive school system vehicles. Beam
said approximately 444 employees are in the testing pool and that
federal guidelines require the school system to test at least 50
percent of them annually. Of the 276 employees tested through December
2006, all tested negative for drug use. Beam said he has never had
more than one employee test positive for drug use in a calendar year.