DRUG TESTS ALL CLEAR

Local Students Yielded No Postive Results

All Wichita Falls high schools reported negative drug test results on
the first round of drug testing for the school year, but one refusal
at Rider High School spoiled any perfect record.

One Rider student randomly selected to be drug tested declined to
take the test.

A refusal counts as an automatic positive test for the student and the school.

This particular student had a history of two positive tests, and this
refusal counted as a third positive.

"It's pretty much 'three strikes, you're out,' " said Julie
Henderson, WFISD director of health and wellness, and coordinator of
last week's drug testing at Rider, Wichita Falls High School, Hirschi
and Harrell Accelerated Learning Center.

Random testing took place at Rider on Monday, at Wichita Falls High
School on Tuesday and at Hirschi and Harrell on Wednesday.

The Rider student who refused to be tested can still participate in
practices of his extra-curricular activity but is suspended for the
rest of the year from any performances or competitions, Henderson said.

This was the student's first drug-test refusal, she said. The Rider
student "was one of the kids we tracked through the summer, and he
came back clean. He was put into this random test but, when he
refused, that put him at his third strike."

Positive drug tests follow students throughout their high school
careers, Henderson said. The slate is not wiped clean every fall.

Despite the one Rider student's predicament, the "all clear" reports
from all drug tests taken at all the schools "was good news,"
Henderson said. "We're starting off the year on a negative, and
that's a positive," she said jokingly.

Only students who participate in extra-curricular activities are
included in the pool from which random students are pulled for drug
tests throughout the school year.

The pool is growing, with 2,541 students in it this year compared to
2,373 last year.

This is the second year that WFISD has randomly drug-tested its high
school students. The urinalysis tests, which are conducted during the
morning before students scatter for lunch, cost the district $25
each. The occasional steroid test, which is used randomly, costs the
district $140 apiece.

"It keeps the kids guessing," Henderson said. "We don't standardize
it too much."

Rider has a particularly large group of freshmen involved in
extra-curricular activities this year, prompting drug tests of more
freshmen than usual, Henderson said.

At Rider, 61 students were tested; at WFHS, 46 were tested; at
Hirschi, 17 were tested, and at Harrell, one student was tested.

Several more rounds of random drug-testing will be conducted
throughout the school year.