DRUG TEST PLAN LEAPS A HURDLE

Board of Education members offered no objections Thursday to a plan
to randomly test Cumberland County athletes and other students for
drugs next year. Members of the Policy Committee did not approve the
drug testing proposal during their meeting. But the issue will be up
for a vote by the full school board at its Dec. 12 meeting.

About 3,000 students could be tested in the first year of the
program, said Fred McDaniel, the school system's student activities
director. They would be randomly selected from randomly selected
schools, said Kathy Dickson, the associate superintendent for
administrative services. All students participating in
school-sponsored sports or competitive extracurricular activities,
such as marching band, would have to sign a consent form agreeing to
be tested if they were selected. An outside company would perform the
tests. Students would be notified the same day they must produce a
urine sample.

Students would face a range of penalties for positive test results,
from a one-week suspension from activities for the first violation to
a permanent ban from extracurricular activities for the third. They
would also be required to attend counseling. They would not face any
academic penalties. Some board members raised questions about the
privacy of students who test positive. McDaniel said only the parents
and the principal would be notified of a positive test result,
although it would eventually become clear that the student had been suspended.

"We're not going to broadcast, put it out over the PA 'Hey, this
kid's been caught using drugs. You better watch out,"' he said. The
school system will receive a four-year, $1.2 million grant from the
U.S. Department of Education to test students.

Board member Larry Lancaster said he thought the time had come for
such a policy. But Chairman Donald LaHuffman asked if a drug testing
program creates the perception that drug use is rampant in high
schools, or whether it will keep kids from joining extracurricular
activities. Superintendent Bill Harrison said he thinks the opposite
will likely happen: students will avoid drugs to remain eligible to join teams.

Board member Frank Barrigan said he supports the policy, but he added
that the school system should make sure the penalties for drug use
are consistent with those for alcohol and cigarette use.

"I'd hate for someone to be suspended for five days for drugs, 11
days for smoking a cigarette, 45 days for the presence of alcohol," he said.