SCHOOL OFFICIALS STILL TALKING ABOUT DRUG TESTING

Further discussion about the possibility of drug testing Keys students
participating in any extracurricular activity - not just athletics -
headlined the Monroe County School Board workshop Tuesday morning. The
policy currently states that any student athlete may be subject to
drug testing at the discretion of the district.

"We're going to keep the policy the way it is, but we're going to
further investigate what other school districts do and talk about the
possibility of expanding it," board Vice Chairman Duncan Mathewson
said. "Nothing final has been decided about whether or not we would
expand it to other extracurriculars."

School board member Debra Walker said she is worried that drug testing
for all extra curricular activities might deter students from
participating.

"How many kids are not doing sports because they don't want to be
tested," she asked. "If we don't answer this question, and we expand
it to all after school activities, how many kids won't participate in
any after school activities?"

Pedro Fraga, executive director of support services, said the school
district spent up to $40,000 in one school year on drug tests at $36
per test. Last year, the district spent about $15,000 because of a cut
in the number of tests performed.

"At one time, we were testing [all athletes], and then we went ahead
and changed it in the middle of the season," Fraga said. "Now we cut
back to randomly, but we're getting a very small percentage [of kids
testing positive for drugs]."

According to Fraga's numbers from one year, only four out of 400 tests
on athletes came back positive.

"If we think only 1 percent of kids use alcohol and drugs, that's
delusional thinking," Walker said. "We chose to test athletes
originally because of a health concern of kids dropping dead on the
football field. We wanted to use the drug test as a way to make sure
kids stay healthy. I think it's essential to test athletes, and I'm
not opposed to expanding it."

Fraga said he estimates about one of six schools he spoke with in
south Florida use drug tests on the band and athletes, but the schools
don't plan on expanding their programs.

The school board will continue discussion in future meetings, but
nothing has been finalized yet, Mathewson said.