BACK-TO-SCHOOL MAY BE A BIT DIFFERENT THIS YEAR

Uniforms, drug tests for athletes, and a slew of new teachers will greet
some of the county's students when they head back to school this week.

At Templeton High School, first-year athletes will be subject to mandatory
drug testing for the first time this year. That policy was adopted by the
school board in July and calls for random testing throughout the different
sports seasons.

Templeton becomes the second district in the county to test its
student-athletes. Shandon adopted a similar policy last year.

Most students at Lillian Larsen School in San Miguel will start school
Monday wearing similar clothing to comply with the school's new uniform policy.

Throughout the county, more than 130 new teachers have been hired in the 10
districts, including 33 in the South County's Lucia Mar district, 30 in Paso
Robles and 24 in San Luis Coastal.

Officials with the three districts say the numbers are not unusual. The
Lucia Mar figure is actually quite a bit lower than the year before, when 50
were hired.

In addition, the Lucia Mar and San Luis Coastal districts each hired three
new administrators this year.

Here's a look at other changes.

- - Terry Brace, who took the helm this summer in Shandon, is the county's
only new superintendent. He took over for Richard Summers, who retired after
26 years with the district.

- - Aside from hiring new teachers, Coast Unified has expanded its music
program to include a chorus at Santa Lucia Middle School and Coast Union
High School, and will also inaugurate a new football field for its first
home football game.

- - Construction of new classrooms at Coast Union High School are expected to
begin later in the year.

Other changes include Paso Robles High School increasing opportunities in
its internship program, and San Luis Coastal reducing the student-teacher
ratio in ninth-grade math classes to 20 to 1.