PETAL EXPANDS DRUG TESTING

Band, Choir Students Among Those to Be Checked

Petal students who participate in band, show choir or other
extracurricular activities will face random drug tests starting this
fall.

The Petal School Board on Tuesday approved the plan Tuesday after
extensive study of the proposal.

"This is something we have been wanting to do for several years," said
Jack Linton, the principal at Petal High School. "We've been
conducting drug tests on all of our athletes for the past 10 years and
wanted to extend it to include students who are involved in
competitive-based extracurricular activities."

The new policy will take effect in the fall. Examples of the
extracurricular groups that will be tested include the band, show
choir, chorus, forensics and drama teams, among others, Linton said.

"Ten percent of whatever the total number of students in the
organization will be randomly tested for drugs," he said. "For
example, if you have 150 show choir members, then 15 will be randomly
selected for a drug test."

The district tests 100 percent of its athletes and cheerleaders, said
James Hutto, superintendent of the Petal School District.

"I think it is a good idea and fair since we do test all of our
athletes," he said. "This is not something we jumped into. We've had a
long, drawn-out process of gathering information before presenting it
for approval."

Aside from talking to community members and those on the school board,
the issue was addressed at the Shared Decision Council - a forum at
the high school that includes a group of teachers, professionals,
students and parents that meets each month to discuss school-related
issues, Linton said.

"Everyone we spoke to was behind this idea all the way," Hutto said.
"The whole idea is not to try and catch a student doing something
wrong, but to act as a deterrent."

Hutto said he does not know of any other school district in the area
that drug tests students that participate in extracurricular
activities and only a handful of districts across the state have
mandatory drug testing for high school athletes.

Laura Guiles, an incoming senior at the high school who is part of the
band and show choir, supports the idea of random drug testing.

"I think it's a great idea because it provides an extra incentive to
keep students from using drugs," she said. "I also think it's only
fair since they already test the athletes. We represent our school at
our competitions and meets just like the athletes do and it's
important that people know that we are drug-free."

Linton said the drug tests are normally done at the beginning of the
school year and will also occur at random times throughout both the
fall and spring semesters.

"No one knows when they will be done except for Coach Larry Watkins,"
Linton said. "I don't even know until the day of testing. We contract
with a group who will come in and pull a group of students to test."

If a student's test returns positive, a second test is done within a
day or two to rule out a false positive result, he said.

"If the second test comes back positive, the student's parent will be
called and the student will be required to attend a drug-counseling
program," Linton said. "In addition, the student will be suspended
from the activity he or she was participating in for a minimum of two
weeks."

The student will then be retested after 21 days and if the drug test
comes back positive after that period of time, the student will be
suspended indefinitely from all athletics and extra-curricular
activities, he said.