CONFERENCE DISCUSSES DRUG TESTING IN SCHOOLS

Ashley Calvo, a 16-year-old John F. Kennedy High School sophomore,
doesn't want to walk down the hall and be afraid of students asking
her if she wants to buy drugs.

Calvo, the youngest person on a six-person panel with law officers and
educators, said this yesterday during day two of the "Mandatory Drug
Testing Symposium: Do We Pass? Do We Fail?"

Calvo feels many public and private high school students wouldn't mind
random drug testing in schools if it means having a school free of
drugs, drug users and drug pushers.

The symposium is meant to gather information and ideas that will help
promote drug testing and drug-use prevention and to decrease drug
abuse in the government and the schools.

Connie Smau is a former drug user who, with the help of the Juvenile
Drug Court, has become an advocate for drug-abuse education and a
supporter of random drug testing in public and private schools.

"In schools, it's hard to stay away from drugs when everyone is doing
it .. friends, classmates and in some cases teachers," Smau said.

Smau said she was a student at St. Paul's when she started
experimenting with drugs. Her drug use led to problems and landed her
in Juvenile Drug Court and in the juvenile drug program, which
required frequent drug testing.

Smau now works at the Bank of Guam, but has made herself available to
the Juvenile Drug Court, speaking to middle- and high-school students
about her life with drugs to her life as a mother and responsible citizen.

Tony Thompson, vice principal at Father Duenas Memorial High School,
talked about a random drug-testing program at their school and how
it's helped serve as a deterrent to drug use because students don't
want to get caught.

Calvo said the education department needs other agencies to step in
and follow the assistance from the school and into their homes.

"Just because you're preventing (drug use) in school doesn't mean it's
stopping at home," Calvo said.

Sen. Larry Kasperbauer, chairman of the legislative education
committee, said random drug testing in public schools may be a matter
to be implemented into the Guam Education Policy Board's drug use policy.

Kasperbauer said he would like to look for federal funding to support
random drug testing.

Jose Cruz, Guam Education Policy Board chairman, said he supports a
well thought-out random drug testing program and will be presenting
the issue to fellow board members in future meetings.

Juan Flores, DOE superintendent, said he's "definitely in favor of
some form of drug testing and education program" at the schools.