KIMBERLY DRUG PROGRAM SHOWS POSITIVE RESULTS

KIMBERLY -- Nearly 99 percent of Kimberly High School students
randomly tested for drugs last year showed clean results.

A three-year grant recently given to the Kimberly Area School
District by the state Department of Public Instruction will try to
assure that those high marks will continue.

The Kimberly school board Monday night reviewed the results of the
sixth year of the district's Operation Clean drug and alcohol
prevention program.

As part of Operation Clean, the school randomly chooses students for
drug testing if they participate in cocurricular activities, have
parking permits or participate in the Promise Makers organization.
Promise Makers requires students to pledge abstinence from drugs and
alcohol.

The district also announced receiving $45,000 during each of the next
three years for its prevention efforts.

"It affords a lot of opportunity for our kids, and we can continue
forward with what we're doing," Supt. Bob Mayfield said.

Operation Clean statistics have shown continued success.

Kimberly High School Principal Mike Rietveld said school officials
had initial concerns that cocurricular activity would wane when the
program was instituted in the 2002-03 school year. They also feared
that Promise Makers participation would fall as time passed. Yet the
program has included about two-thirds of the student body for three
years and cocurricular participation remains strong.

Student cooperation is considered another hallmark of
success.

The district assumes a positive reading in instances where students
refuse to take a test. Last year marked the second consecutive year
without a refusal.

"They know it's part of the process," Rietveld said of his students.