DE PERE HIGH SCHOOL FINISHES FIRST YEAR OF RANDOM DRUG TESTING

DE PERE -- De Pere High School has completed its first year of
random drug and alcohol testing.

The tests, part of an updated co-curricular code, could be given to
any students participating in after-school activities, including
competitive activities, such as football or cheerleading, to
service-oriented activities such as the ecology or drama clubs.

Students who have parking permits also were subjected to the tests,
as were students who signed up for DREAM, a group pledging to not
use drugs or alcohol.

According to a report from the School District, the school tested
364 students during the school year. Of those, less than 1 percent,
or fewer than 10 students, tested positive for drugs. Included in
that number are students who refused to be tested.

Some of the numbers in the pool were: 923
co-curricular participants, representing 74.2 percent of the
student population; and 334 DREAM participants, or 26.8 percent of
total students.

Total school enrollment was 1,244 students, with 998 in at least one
pool. Of those, about a third were tested.

At the beginning of the school year, students were given numbers. A
certain number of students were randomly chosen each week, and those
students were randomly tested on the spot at school.

De Pere is the first school district in Brown County to adopt the
random tests.

The School Board, by a 6-1 vote last year approved an overall new
co-curricular code of conduct. In tandem, the board gave its support
to random drug tests for students who participate in after-school
activities or those with parking privileges, as well as random tests
for alcohol use at proms, dances and other school events.