DRUG TESTING MAY BE EXPANDED

The Vestavia Hills Board of Education on Wednesday will discuss expanding
its drug-testing policy to include all extracurricular activities.

School officials said a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June paved the way for
the potential revision. The ruling allows random drug-testing of students
involved in extracurricular activities other than sports.

"We're updating our policy to concur with the Supreme Court ruling," said
school board President George Elliott. "The new policy is going to include
all of those areas that compete, other than cheerleaders and sports."

The board unanimously approved a drug-testing policy for athletes and
cheerleaders last year. The policy, which includes testing for tobacco,
took effect last fall at Vestavia Hills High School and Pizitz Middle School.

The revised policy will sit on the table for 30 days, be presented for a
vote at the Aug. 28 meeting and go into effect immediately if it is
approved, said city school Superintendent Jamie Blair.

"We now know we can test band members, Rebelettes, academic teams," said
Blair. "This is something that gives our students another opportunity to
say no to drugs."

Vestavia Hills High School Principal Ann Jones said the first year of drug
testing convinced her that more students should be included.

"Once we got into it, we were able to conduct it with privacy," she said.
"Nobody was put on the spot, and it didn't interrupt our academics."

Chuck Walters, who has a son and a daughter at the high school, said the
revised policy is a positive step.

"I was on the committee last year looking into drug testing, and our
consensus was that we wanted to expand it," said Walters. He said his
children say the policy has been a deterrent.

School officials are still determining how much the expanded drug testing
will cost and how many students will be tested.

Last year's testing of students in the high school and middle school cost
about $8,400 to get started and affected about 1,100 students, said officials.