KIMBERLY APPROVES RANDOM DRUG TESTING OF STUDENTS

KIMBERLY - With little discussion, the Board of Education Monday
unanimously approved random drug testing of some high school students to
start this fall.

"I've received mostly positive comments from parents," Kimberly High School
Principal Mike Rietveld told the board.

The plan is intended to deter students from using drugs and to identify
drug users so that treatment can be offered. Parents will be notified of
the policy by mail this summer, Rietveld said.

Students in three groups will be eligible for testing: those in
co-curricular activities, students with parking privileges and members of
the Promise Makers, an organization in which members sign a promise not to
use drugs.

Students will be tested for alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, steroids, codeine
and morphine, amphetamines and LSD. The district will not test for tobacco
use or for the drug Ecstasy, because the Ecstasy test is more costly, Supt.
Mel Lightner said.

"Usually, kids who are using Ecstasy are using other drugs," Lightner said
last week.

Students who take prescription drugs must provide a copy of the
prescription to school administrators.

Those who participate in a co-curricular activity and their parent must
sign a consent form for the student to be eligible for random drug testing.

Students who test positive for drugs will be suspended from the activity.
Those who refuse to be tested will be suspended from the activity for one year.

Students with parking permits who test positive will lose privileges for
six months for the first violation. Parking privileges will be revoked for
one year if a student refuses to be tested.

The student must successfully pass a drug test before being reinstated to
the activity or being allowed to park on school grounds.