MANY BACK EXPANDED DRUG TESTING: HALL BAND, CLUB MEMBERS, DRIVERS MAY BE SCREENED

As an athlete at Chestatee High School in northwest Hall County, Zach Bennett already is subject to the county school system's random drug-screening policy. As a trumpet player for the school's band, he wouldn't mind seeing the policy expand to other extracurricular programs at the county's high schools.

"It's good to be fair," said Bennett, a 16-year-old junior.

A systemwide committee has been exploring that possibility, also looking at stretching the policy to affect middle school extracurricular programs and high school students who drive to school.

School officials have said that a survey of staff members at several schools shows widespread support for the policy, which would need the Hall County Board of Education's approval before it is in put in place.

Gordon Higgins, spokesman for the system, has said the committee could ask the board by January to set up public hearings on the matter for possible implementation of a revised policy in the fall of 2008.

That's fine by Daniel Merck, who leads the band program at Chestatee.

He sees random drug screening as an incentive for "highly dedicated students ... to keep away from the wrong path or give in to peer pressure."

Plus, Merck said he sees band as equal with athletics.

"I consider band a sport," he said. "(Students) put a lot of time and effort into it. It's very demanding physically and mentally."

Under the current policy, an athlete who tests positive for the first time will be banned for 10 percent of the team's scheduled games for the season, excluding practice scrimmages.

With a second offense, the student will be suspended from the team but can apply for reinstatement after at least four weeks if the student can provide a negative drug screen to school administrators, agree to continue with drug counseling and be subjected to future testing on demand.

The principal, head coach and athletic director will decide on reinstatement.

A third positive screen will result in suspension from all interscholastic athletic competition for one calendar year from the date of the result.

Earlier this summer, the school board discussed revisiting the policy with the possibility of expanding it. Superintendent Will Schofield called for the committee to be formed.

"At this early stage, it's hard to tell what kind of punitive measures (would be) put in place" for students in clubs and organizations who test positive, Higgins said.

In some areas, punishment seems obvious. For example, a student who drives to school could lose his or her parking privilege, he said.

Also, there are financial aspects to be considered.

Currently, Northeast Georgia Health System's toxicology department conducts and evaluates the tests, which are paid for through athletic budgets, primarily gate receipts, Higgins said.

For students who drive to school, paying for the tests could be tacked onto the parking fees students must pay, he said. Or in some other instances, PTO or business partners could help with costs.

"We don't foresee that being an issue," Higgins said.

The policy expansion is picking up support from parents and administrators.

"While we do not feel that we have a drug problem, we are not naive enough to think that our students are immune to societal pitfalls," said Paula Stubbs, principal of South Hall Middle School.

"Therefore, if random drug screening can help students get the message that drug use is not accepted, I agree with expanding testing."

She does raise a concern that many middle school clubs don't have student rosters, so that "could affect ensuring randomness."

Lee Chapman, a parent and School Council member at South Hall Middle, said he "would go as far as to support mandatory and complete drug testing of all athletes and all other students involved in any extracurricular activities."

"I believe is it a privilege to be allowed to participate in extracurricular activities and anyone involved in the use of or sale of any illegal substances should be banned from not only extracurricular activities but also expelled from school," he said.

Susan Barkley, also a parent and School Council member at South Hall Middle, said she believes such testing would be "a positive step toward raising the awareness and seriousness" of drug abuse.

She said she believes the school system "will need to take measures to avoid the negative effect that an innocent student would encounter if the (testing) results are not correct."

Laura Aguilar, 16, who plays horn and saxophone in the Chestatee High band, said she believes testing should expanded to all students, regardless of their extracurricular involvement.

Most students who take drugs aren't involved in anything at the school, said the 11th-grader.

Bennett quickly agreed. "They just want to hang around."

Aguilar, also vice president of Chestatee's Health Occupations Students of America chapter, said she believes students who use drugs are the only ones who would be upset with an expansion of the policy.

Other students wouldn't mind the change, Bennett said.

"Yeah, they won't have to worry about it," Aguilar said.