NEWARK ATHLETES ACE DRUG TESTS

NEWARK -- Not one Newark High School or middle school athlete tested
positive for drugs, alcohol or tobacco in pre-season testing, Athletic
Director Kevin Jarrett said.

During the district's first round of testing last August, one out of 600
student athletes tested positive.

The lack of negative results this year shows the program is working,
Superintendent Keith Richards said. Knowing they will be tested gives
students another reason to say no to drugs and alcohol.

Richards has no intention of dropping the drug-testing program. Stopping the
program because there were no positive results "would be like saying because
there were no drownings at the pool this year we'll eliminate lifeguards,"
Richards said.

The district last year spent about $31,000, or $26 per student, on drug
testing, Treasurer Brian Wilson said.

Parents of students who do not play sports can request the school test their
children at the family's expense.

Last year was the first time Newark athletes in grades seven through 12 were
tested.

Overall last year, about five student-athletes had one positive test each,
Jarrett said. Those students had to sit out 20 percent of their team's
games. Their parents were required to pay for an assessment by a certified
drug-and-alcohol counselor and any followup programs the counselor
recommended.

No student had more than one positive test, which would have gotten them
kicked off the team, Jarrett said.

Lab tests can detect down to eight-billionths of a gram of marijuana, enough
to determine if a student smoked a joint a month back, according to Sports
Safe, the company which conducted testing at Newark.

Students in co-curriculars -- such as band, where students earn a grade as
well as compete in contests and march in parades -- cannot be drug tested
under the latest U.S. Supreme Court ruling.