MORTON PONDERS DRUG TESTS

School Board Considers Policy For High Schoolers Participating In
Extracurricular Activities

MORTON - Students who participate in extracurricular activities at
Morton High School soon may be required to submit to random drug testing.

The District 709 board is in the beginning stages of considering such
a policy aimed at discouraging drug use among its students, said
school superintendent Dr. Norm Durflinger.

"The reason why we would do (testing) is to give students one more
reason to say no to drugs," said Durflinger. "All we're doing now is
considering (testing), but more and more schools in the area are
looking into it, so we felt we should as well."

Durflinger said he has gathered information from two area schools that
have drug testing policies in place: El Paso and Deer Creek-Mackinaw
high schools.

For further input, Durflinger said the school board will conduct a
community forum in mid-September.

"We want to see what community people are thinking about (drug testing
at schools)," said Durflinger, who could not yet give a specific date
for the forum.

He added that the board is asking the community for its view on drug
testing for students participating in any high school extra-curricular
activity, including clubs and band.

"I'm not sure we have a lot of drug problems at the highs school now,
but we do have drug problems in the community," said Durflinger.

Morton Police Chief Nick Graff said that his department conducts about
half a dozen drug searches per year at the high school using police
dogs in the hallways.

"Sometimes we find stuff and sometimes we don't," said Graff of the
searches, which have been done for about the past eight years. "There
are kids in Morton that use drugs and attend the high school. We have
always maintained a pro- active and no tolerance approach to drugs at
the high school."

Graff said that he did not detect an increase in drug problems at
Morton High School during the past five to 10 years, adding that he
felt Morton, as a community, had no more a problem with drugs than any
other town its size.

"When you're talking about a drug problem, it depends on your
perception," said Graff. "I think one kid using drugs is a problem.
But here in Morton, we just haven't seen many of the kinds of crime
related to drug use: burglaries or thefts for money to buy drugs,
violent attacks on people for drugs. So, as far as the general public
is concerned, there isn't a severe drug problem, but there is,
depending on your point of view, as far as kids using drugs."

This spring, the District 709 School Board in conjunction with grant
received by the village, agreed to put a police officer at the high
school on a full-time basis.

But, because of hiring delays, Graff said the officer might not be in
the hallways until the 2001-2002 school year.

If the officer's training schedule works out, Graff said there is a
50-50 chance the school resource officer may begin work at Morton High
School in January.