HEMPFIELD EYES RANDOM DRUG TESTS FOR STUDENTS IN SCHOOL ACTIVITIES

Students in the marching band, on the debate team, the football team or in
the honor society could be given a drug test randomly next year under a
draft policy being studied by the Hempfield School Board.

If the draft becomes policy in May as planned, Hempfield will be the first
public school district in Lancaster County to have random drug testing of
students who are in extracurricular activities.

But it would not be the first in the state to have such a policy.

And Lancaster Catholic also has a random-drug-testing policy for its
extracurricular-activity students.

Currently, the Solanco School District has a voluntary drug testing program
in place.

"It's absolutely a proactive thing to give kids just one more strategy and a
reason to say no to drugs,'' said Hempfield Superintendent Robert Wildasin,
who served on the committee that drafted the policy.

School board member Barbara Zimmerman also served on the draft committee.

A professor of nursing at Millersville University, Zimmerman said the policy
is important to the district.

"I've heard from the community -- parents and students -- that there is a
need to assist students in getting help for drug and alcohol problems,''
said Zimmerman. "No school is immune to it. We know it is there, and any
school that says they don't have a problem with drugs or alcohol is either
blind or lying.''

Hempfield School Board members saw the proposed policy for the first time at
its Tuesday board meeting. They will study it for about two weeks before
commenting, said Wildasin.

The board plans to discuss the draft of the policy at its committee meeting
on March 18.

On April 1, the policy will be presented to students in the student council
for consideration.

A community forum will be held on Tuesday, April 15 to give students,
parents, teachers and residents an opportunity to comment on the policy.

After studying the public comments, the board will review the policy again
at a committee meeting on May 6, said Wildasin.

The policy is slated for a vote on May 13.

"I suspect it will be passed,'' Wildasin said. "Let me put it this way: It
will be acted upon.''

A 1995 court ruling opened the door for schools to test student athletes
randomly for drug use.

But then last June, a U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowed the random testing
to be expanded from sports to all extracurricular activities.

The decision came after an Oklahoma high school student sued the district
for demanding a drug test before she could join the school's choir.

"The main motivation (for the policy) was the attention that was given to
the Supreme Court decision this past summer,'' said Wildasin. "We drafted a
policy for random testing of athletes five or six years ago, but we backed
off at that time,'' he said. "The board had a lot of other things on their
plate, and we were questioning the reasoning of just testing athletes.''

Zimmerman called the draft "a work in progress'' at this point.

"Everybody can have input before it's finalized in April,'' she said.

Zimmerman explained that the current version of the policy would include
students in extracurricular and co-curricular activities.

Those categories would cover students traveling outside the district for
extracurricular activities or representing the school in some way, such as
on sports teams, in dance theater, on the color guard or in marching band.

It would also apply to students who are in service-learning projects,
internships or have a parking space on school grounds.

According to Zimmerman, the random drug testing would be another "prong'' in
the effort to discourage use of drugs and alcohol among students.

"We already have education programs on drug and alcohol use,'' said
Zimmerman. "We're giving them the skills to resist drugs and alcohol through
assemblies and speakers.

"This is just another prong to give the support to students to say "no' to
peers,'' she said. "Kids are pressured so severely by their peers.''

Zimmerman said students' grades would not be penalized if they tested
positive, but they would be referred to the Student Assistance Program (SAP)
or private counseling.

Students and parents would be notified right away of a positive test result,
she said, but police would not be called.

Wildasin said the logistics and details of drug testing have not yet been
worked out, but he said other schools are using urinalysis because it's the
most accurate and least expensive method.