SCHOOL PLANS INCENTIVES FOR DRUG TESTS

GERONIMO -- Students in grades seven through 12 will be encouraged with
free T-shirts and discount shopping cards to submit to voluntary random
drug tests in the Navarro School District, if plans proceed as expected.

The school board voted unanimously Monday to have administrators draw up a
policy to implement the drug testing program, starting with the fall term.
The board is expected to approve the policy next month.

"We had two busts for marijuana this year on campus," Superintendent Harold
Besson said. "We have had reports filtering back that some of the weekend
partying has escalated from just alcohol to what I call some of the soft
drugs."

Navarro has about 1,000 students in the district, including 275 at the high
school. Navarro is in rural Guadalupe County, north of Seguin.

The idea for the voluntary drug testing came from Mike McGrew, who will
replace the retiring Besson as superintendent in June.

McGrew, now superintendent of the Simms School District near Texarkana,
instituted a voluntary testing program there three years ago, and 97
percent of the students enrolled.

"Everyone gets an initial test, and if they pass it, they get a T-shirt and
a discount card for area businesses," McGrew said. "We average testing 10
to 20 percent of the students once a month."

Simms School District's Bowie High School competes with another area high
school for which school achieves the highest percentage of students tested,
with the winner holding a trophy for the next year.

McGrew said students who test positive for drugs are not punished, although
their parents are notified. The students and their parents then meet with a
school counselor.

"The goal is not to get somebody, but to get somebody help," McGrew said.

Athletic Director Lin Havron said teachers and other district employees
also will be encouraged to take part in the program, expected to cost about
$10 per test.

"What we are looking for is just a way to reward the kids who say no to
drugs and stay off drugs," he said. "I would say the majority of our kids
are looking for an excuse to say no, anyway."

Administrators said they heard no complaints from parents about the plan to
test students. Six high school juniors interviewed Wednesday said they plan
to sign up for the testing program.

Kimberly Knippa, who plays softball and volleyball for Navarro, said she
hopes all athletes join.

"If you are going to be an athlete, you shouldn't have anything to hide,"
she said.

While a few districts around the state have similar voluntary random
testing policies, it "is still pretty rare," said Debbie Graves,
spokeswoman for the Texas Education Agency.

She said the agency keeps no records of how many districts test students
for drugs.