PARENTS SPAR OVER DRUG TESTS

Marshfield -- First, there was Robert Harmon, a parent who spoke out
against the new drug-testing policy of the Marshfield school district.

Then there was Webster County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney John Adamik,
who spoke in favor of the policy that, beginning the fall, mandates random
testing of all junior high and high school students participating in
school-sponsored activities.

Back and forth the pros and cons of the controversial policy approved in
July were debated at Monday's Marshfield school board meeting, which drew
at least 80 community members along with opinions and applause for one side
or the other.

After more than two hours of public comment, the board did not change the
new policy.

But there were two things parents agreed on: drug and alcohol use is a
problem in the community, and parents didn't want their children to use either.

"I know everyone here tonight is for what's best for kids," Superintendent
Mike Wutke said before public comments began. But that's where the
similarities in their viewpoints ended.

"As a parent, if my kids are using drugs," Harmon said, I want to know
about it."

Yet opponents like Harmon said they wanted the board to reconsider the
policy because it singles out school achievers, sends a negative instead of
a positive message, and was developed without enough community input.

"This policy has been stolen from us," said Don Sparks, a parent who has
gathered at least 50 signatures on a petition to ask the board to rescind
the policy.

By not publicizing committee meetings widely enough, the district missed
opportunities to get more parents involved in the policy's development,
Sparks said.

"This district put more effort into getting the parents to sign the consent
form than in getting the parents involved in forming a positive policy,"
said Sparks, who has refused to sign the form to allow his 13-year-old
daughter, Adriane, to take part in school-sponsored activities.

James Longman said he reluctantly signed the drug-testing consent form so
his 14-year-old son, Joshua, could play football, yet at the meeting he
said the policy doesn't offer a positive plan to help students who abuse
drugs and alcohol and it weakens parental authority.

"What plan is there to help these kids?" he asked. "And why, as a parent,
wasn't I asked?"

Robert Pickett expressed anger that his 15-year-old son, who takes
over-the-counter medicine for severe asthma, decided not to play high
school basketball because of the testing, which would reveal the medicine
in his system.

Employee Screening Services operations manager John Throckmorton said the
screening reveals only abuse-level doses of over-the-counter medicine or
prescription medicine.

But, Pickett said, his son has to take high doses of the medications. "He's
not abusing it. ... This keeps him out of the hospital."

The policy says that after a second positive test, the district notifies
parents to ask whether their children are using over-the-counter medicines.

As many community members showed support for the policy as opposed it.

"I think it's a good policy," Adamik said. "I can attest to the problem
Webster County, Missouri, has with drugs. I see it every day," he said.

The assistant prosecutor said his office just charged three suspects who
admitted selling drugs primarily to Marshfield High students: "For those
three, there are 10 more in their place."

Other parents said drug testing is a form of accountability for students.

"I like drug testing because it makes students accountable for their
action," said Bill Messick, a member of the committee that created the policy.

"My girls have told me they would not mind if they were tested every few
weeks for these drugs."

Marshfield Police Chief Kenneth Clardy said the testing adds another tool
for the community to use in the fight against drugs.

A drug-testing policy, he said, could be a safeguard for students whose
parents are unaware of their drug use.

Clardy said he knows of parents who "did a good job, but their children
still had problems. They end up in the drug world."