BOARD APPROVES DRUG TESTING FOR ATHLETES

Cumberland County students will have to agree to take a drug test
next year before they join a sports team or some extracurricular groups.

The county Board of Education voted unanimously Tuesday to start a
random drug testing program in the high schools.

Not all students will be tested. About 50 percent of the students
from randomly selected schools will be required to take the test over
the course of the first year, said Kathy Dickson, the associate
superintendent for administrative services.

The school system has received a four-year, $1.2 million grant from
the U.S. Department of Education to conduct the tests.

One student likened the policy to randomly searching girls' purses
for illegal items.

"I think it's an invasion of privacy," said Karla Capacetti, the
student government association president of South View High School.
Capacetti was a student representative at the board's meeting.

Dickson said that administrators considered privacy concerns. But the
drug-testing program will give students an easy excuse to refuse
drugs, even when pressured by their friends, she said.

All students and their parents must sign a consent form starting next
year before they will be allowed on any sport team or competitive
extracurricular activity, such as marching bands or debate teams.

Students will be selected by a computer program and required to
submit a urine sample on the day they are informed. If they refuse,
they will be considered to have tested positive.

The tests will screen for a range of drugs, including prescription
drugs and illegal substances. Athletes' samples will also be tested
for performance-enhancing drugs.

Penalties for positive tests range from a one-week suspension from
activities for a first offense to a permanent ban from
extracurricular activities for the third. All students will be
required to attend counseling.

There are no academic penalties, and only principals will be informed
if a student fails.

Students can appeal a positive drug test, first to Superintendent
Bill Harrison and then to the Board of Education.

Board member Frank Barrigan said he would like to see reports on
whether the drug tests are effective. In four years, the board will
have to decide whether it wants to spend its own money to continue drug testing.