SAFFORD EMBRACES DRUG TESTING FOR STUDENTS

Editor's note: This is the first in a two-part series on drugs in
local schools. Wednesday's story features an upcoming town hall
meeting and other ideas and problems that will be discussed.

Safford High School kicked off random drug testing for all students
participating in extracurricular activities this fall, following a
similar move by Thatcher and Pima high schools.

There is yet to be an official drug-testing policy across the state,
but the Arizona School Boards Association adopted a document on drug
testing in 2004 on which local schools are basing their policies.
Each school takes a slightly different approach in disciplining offenders.

Safford Principal Rich DeRidder said the testing, which is conducted
at the high schools by the Graham County Probation Department, is
not focused on busting the students for drug violations but rather
helping them to say no.

"The focus is to help the kids," DeRidder said. "If you are testing
them to catch them and punish them, then (you shouldn't) do it."

Safford School District Superintendent Mark Tregaskes said the
initial testing this year has turned up some positive test results.

"The numbers at this time are low, and we hope they continue to stay
low," Tregaskes said.

There are punishments involved with testing positive at all three
high schools, and each school takes a slightly different approach.
What is common among all schools and emphasized in the drug-testing
policy is that a positive test will not affect the students' classwork.

"The drug testing in no way affects academic standing," Pima High
School Athletic Director Tony Goodman said. Goodman was a member of
the Pima School Board when the drug-testing policy was adopted three
years ago. Thatcher also adopted its drug policy before the
start of the 2004-2005 school year.

"The result is they lose their right to participate in
extracurricular activity until they test clean," Goodman said.

There was not a single student at Pima qho lost eligibility because
of a positive drug test during the last school year, Goodman said,
but he does not deny that a drug problem exists.

"We'd be burying our heads in the sand if we said there wasn't a
drug problem," Goodman said.

Punishment and treatment for offenders

The punishments range from being ineligible for any extracurricular
activity until the student tests clean (Safford and Pima) to the
harsher penalty of being dismissed from extracurricular activities
for the entirety of the remaining grading period and all of
the next grading period at Thatcher.

"It's got kid's attention and slowed things down," Thatcher
Principal Paul Nelson said. "We tested last year and this year, and
it's actually been really good for us."

Nelson said Thatcher doesn't really have much of a problem with its
athletes and other extracurricular participants now, but it wasn't
always that way.

"We had problems with some of the athletes involved in drug usage in
the past," Nelson said. "I think (the drug testing) is a protection
for the kids. It gives them another reason to say ‘No, I'm not
doing that.'"

The issue of a deterrent is important for DeRidder, who said drug
testing is designed to catch kids who may be tempted to try drugs
but won't so they can stay involved in extra-curricular activities.

"This drug testing is for those. . . trying to fight the peer
pressure and (this) gives them a reason to say no," DeRidder said.

A pair of seniors on the Thatcher volleyball team said the drug
testing is making a difference.

"I like having it there because it's reassurance," Meghan Skinner,
17, said. "You're not going to worry (that) your other teammates
aren't going to be there."

Senior Shaka Orr, 18, said while the drug testing was weird to deal
with at first, it is really helping the students participating in
extracurricular activities.

"(It helps) for sure during the season," Orr said.

DeRidder also said the drug testing can be used to nip potential
users in the bud.

"If we can identify those who have a real problem, we can give our
kids a chance," DeRidder said.

An important aspect of the drug testing program at Safford is the
rehabilitation provided to the students, DeRidder said.

"I meet with the parents as soon as possible, and we have mandatory
sessions," DeRidder said.

The original tests are what is called a dipstick test, which gives a
preliminary indication if there is any drug in the system of the
student tested. DeRidder said for each dipstick test that comes back
positive, it gets sent by the probation department to a lab for
further analysis.

The initial tests are conducted by Graham County Probation at no
cost to the schools because of a grant the probation department
received. Tregaskas said Safford does pay out of its general fund to
contract with a lab to do the in-depth testing for samples that come
back positive on the dipstick test.

DeRidder said if it is confirmed the student has tested positive,
they are taken out of extracurricular activities until they can test
clean, which he said would be three to four weeks at a minimum
before being retested. If they then test clean, the student could be
reinstated in the activities from which they were dropped.

There are team rules at Safford determined by the coaches that are
more severe, however, including being kicked off a team for that
year permanently.

"Coaches have been given the latitude to increase the minimums for
their programs," Tregaskas said.

SUBHED: A new frontier in the drug war

Drug testing is a new tactic available to schools after it was
declared constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in June 2002. In
writing for the majority decision, Justice Clarence Thomas said, "We
find that testing students who participate in extracurricular
activities is a reasonably effective means of addressing the school
district's legitimate concerns in preventing, deterring and
detecting drug use."

DeRidder said the push for testing at Safford was mainly based on
what parents, students, and even members of his own family were saying.

"We've had to base (the implementation) on rumors," DeRidder said.
"Hearing my own daughters talk about the (drug use), I thought we
really did have a problem."

Fort Thomas has yet to implement a drug-testing system that uses the
benefit of the probation department's assistance, but Principal
Shane Hawkins has heard some of the same concerns DeRidder did.

"The community and (school) board has discussed (drug testing),"
Hawkins said. "I think it would help students."

Fort Thomas instead participates in the Arizona Interscholastic
Association's "Pursuing Victory With Honor Program," the only school
in Graham County that is a fully accredited member. The program
trains coaches to help build leadership, good sportsmanship and
healthy habits in their students.

"We try to institute good sportsmanship, and part of that is to keep
your body healthy," Hawkins said.

The implementation of the drug-testing program has not been an issue
at the three other schools.

"It's been really smooth," Nelson said. "We haven't really had
anyone complain about it."

Thatcher volleyball head coach Krista Brown said with the drug
testing in place, the students know beforehand what is expected of them.

"They don't even come out for the team if they know they are going
to do drugs," Brown said.

One of the concerns brought up at a meeting of the SAVE organization
- -- which will be hosting a town hall on Oct. 26 to discuss issues
like drug use in schools -- was the use of new over-the-counter
drugs and prescription drugs like oxycontin. Nelson said the
drug testing should pick up on methamphetamine and THC as well as
other prescription drugs.

"There are new drugs coming up all the time that (the drug testing)
doesn't catch, but it is pretty inclusive," Goodman said.

All of the high schools test students randomly, either testing
entire teams or clubs at once or having a computer generate a random
list of names. Once a student tests positive and that test is
verified, however, that student will continue to be tested each time
a test is conducted, DeRidder said.

"We've not had a problem with anyone not wanting to be tested,"
Thatcher volleyball assistant coach Kim Orr said. "I think (the
students) realize that drugs aren't tolerable when you are doing sports."

While Thatcher's restrictions for first-time failure are more
stringent than the other schools, punishment for second-time
offenders at Safford eliminates that student from extracurricular
activity for 88 days or until the end of the school year, whichever
comes first.

In the end, it's not the punishment, but the help the drug-testing
program can provide the students that is the real motivation behind
it's growing implementation.

"I think it's a great deterrent," Goodman said. "It's really helped
us with our athletes and our Knowledge Bowl teams."