LOCKNEY DISTRICT TO TEST STUDENTS, TEACHERS FOR DRUGS

LOCKNEY, Texas - Beginning Tuesday, students from sixth through 12th
grades and all teachers in the Lockney Independent School District
will be tested for drugs.

All students, not just those in athletics or other extracurricular
activities, will be required to take the test, school officials said.
Lockney is a town of 2,100 people 43 miles northeast of Lubbock.

Parents have been asked to sign consent forms. If parents refuse, the
tests are considered positive, and students will face repercussions
the same as if they had failed the test, officials said.

"It's a long story, but society has just brought us to this point,"
Superintendent Raymond Lusk told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.
"Schools have kind of become all things, and our job description has
expanded."

The penalty for a first-time positive result is a 21-day suspension
from extracurricular activities, three days of in-school suspension
and three sessions of drug counseling.

Teachers testing positive for drugs will be fired.

"What scares me the most, if I do not sign it, they are going to
punish my child for what I do, and I definitely do not think that's
right," Larry Tannahill told the newspaper. "Every person has got a
right to their own opinion, and I do not think they can enforce this."