PANEL TO REVIEW SV DRUG-TESTING CONCERNS

Report To Board Due By June 15

The Susquehanna Valley Board of Education has formed a special
committee to look at concerns about the district's new drug-testing
policy prior to its July 1 start date.

The committee, to include three opponents of the policy, will review
issues raised by critics, said board member Mary M. Rader, who will be
one of its members. Two school board members and the district's
attorney will also sit on the committee.

The committee's formation does not signal the school board is
preparing to back off from the policy, which it approved by a 6-3 vote
in March, district officials said Monday. But, "I think it's safe to
say the board considers the information (from the critics) serious
enough to take another look at it," said Jim Hull, the district's
public information coordinator.

The new committee will hold its first meeting tonight and is due to
submit a report to the school board by the June 15 meeting.

In the meantime, school officials announced Monday the district has
postponed an informational meeting on the policy that had been
scheduled for tonight at the high school. No decision has been made on
whether the meeting will be rescheduled, the district said.

The school board agreed to form the new committee last Thursday during
a board meeting that a group of organized opponents, Parents Against
Drug Testing, attended to criticize the policy.

At the meeting, opponents restated concerns about the confidentiality
of test results and the fairness of only testing student athletes.
They also raised questions about funding of the testing, charging that
the district has no guarantee that state officials will approve the
use of Safe and Drug-Free Schools money for the testing.

The formation of the new committee is "a step in the right direction,"
said Rusty Storm, an opponent of drug testing who was elected to the
school board last week. He thinks the board and opponents of the
policy may be able to reach common ground, but emphasized his group
remains strongly opposed to mandatory drug testing.

Rader said she hopes the committee can reach a consensus to end
division in the community over the policy. "We're going to be looking
at concerns they (opponents) have and concerns a few of us board
members have."

The new committee will review issues raised by critics, said Board
President Sandra H. Ruffo. She did not want to prejudge what it will
recommend to the board in June.

Timothy O'Hearn, health and wellness coordinator for the school
district, said he respects the board's decision to form the new
committee. O'Hearn has been a proponent of the policy.

The school board approved the policy after a 14-member committee,
including residents, recommended it. All athletes will be tested at
the beginning of the school year, with random tests for four athletes
each week during a season. Students who test positive would have be
cleared by a doctor and undergo substance abuse counseling to stay on
a team.