SV BOARD DELAYS DRUG TESTING FOR A YEAR

The Susquehanna Valley Board of Education voted unanimously Thursday to call
a time out on its controversial policy to drug test student athletes by
delaying its implementation.

The school board, by the same unanimous vote, also decided that the voters
will have the final say on whether to begin any policy. A public referendum
could come in February.

The board's action came at the end of an intense discussion during which
some members said the issue of drug testing student athletes continues to be
an emotional one that is dividing the community.

While not rescinding the policy that it approved in March, the board delayed
its implementation from July 1 to July 1, 2001, to allow time for an
independent survey on the extent of the school district's drug problem, and
whether a testing policy is appropriate.

"I feel we need to take a lot more time" to look at the issue, and part of
that is an independent survey, said board member Mary Rader.

The idea for the public vote came from board member Michael Bensley. "My
quiet polling indicates there is still a heck of a divide in the community,"
he said. And the only way to heal this divide is to put a policy to a public
vote, he added.

A main reason the board delayed implementation is that the state has not
approved the use of Safe and Drug Free Schools money for the testing.

Without state funding, the district cannot implement the policy because the
board has pledged not to use local tax money for the testing, said board
President Sandra Ruffo. "We are not going to implement a policy without
funding, and at the current time we don't have funding," she said.

But some board members also said concerns have been raised about the policy,
and the district has not done a good job in building support for it.

Other board members agreed with Bensley. The board, at its reorganization
meeting next month, will consider forming an ad hoc committee to look at an
independent survey, Ruffo said.