HALL SCHOOLS LOOK AT EXPANDING DRUG TESTING TO MIDDLE
SCHOOL

The notion of expanding random drug screening beyond high school
athletics is picking up steam in Hall County schools.

A systemwide committee has been exploring that possibility as it
relates to students in middle and high school athletics and other
extracurricular programs, as well as students who drive their cars to
school.

School officials issued a statement Tuesday summarizing the
committee's work, which includes a survey of staff members at several
schools over the potential policy expansion.

"The vast majority ... supported the possible expansion of the
program," the report stated.

District spokesman Gordon Higgins, who directs the committee, said
that possibly by January the committee could ask the Hall County
Board of Education to schedule public hearings on the matter.

The panel comprises administrators, coaches and parents. School board
approval would be required for any changes to the current policy.

Higgins said that at this point, the committee envisions changes, if
they happen, taking effect in the fall of 2008.

"The middle school piece (of the potential changes) is the most
interesting thing to me," he said. "I don't know how parents will
think about kids at those ages being tested for drugs."

Brad Brown, North Hall Middle School principal and a committee
member, noted that "sixth-graders don't participate in sports, so
we're probably only looking at seventh- and eighth-graders in that
respect."

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.

Gary Brown, North Hall High School principal and a member of the
committee, said the current policy seems to be working.

In the first year, the district had eight positive results from the
random tests and last year, no positives, he said.

"To expand it may not be a bad thing," Brown said.

He said applying such a rule to students who have parking permits "is
pretty much a no-brainer."

Brad Brown has been an avid supporter of expanding the
policy.

"I don't see any reason that it wouldn't work for the middle school
level as well," he has said. "... Kids are being exposed to drugs at
earlier ages, and it is imperative that this concern be addressed."

Kevin Bales, principal of East Hall Middle School, said he believes
expanding the program "will empower more middle school students to
resist peer pressures often associated with marijuana and other drugs."

"Students contemplating making a poor decision need communities and
school leaders to take a firm stance on drug use," he said.

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

Troy Patton, a corporate relations official with Northeast Georgia
Medical Center, said the toxicology department should be able to
handle an increase in volume.

"The department can increase staff if needed," he said. "... We are
very pleased to be an essential part of this great program with Hall
County schools."