RANDOM DRUG TESTING TO CONTINUE FOR JANESVILLE HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETES

JANESVILLE, Wis. The Janesville School Board decided to spend about $26,
000 for random drug tests at two high schools, but discontinued a
high-priced test for steroids.

The $138 tests for steroids are too expensive and have proven unnecessary,
some board members said. None of the athletes tested last year came up
positive for steroid use. The district would have paid nearly $3,600 to
continue steroid testing this year.

"That's a pretty big loss of money for something we' re not even sure is an
issue," board member Thomas Wolfe said.

Craig High School and Parker High Schools High school athletes will be
tested for nicotine, alcohol, marijuana and other illegal drugs, the school
board ruled Tuesday.

The board' s 8-1 vote renews its 1-year-old policy of random drug testing.

Prohibited substances were found in the urine of 13 of 979 random urine
samples last school year. Six students tested positive for marijuana and
seven for nicotine.

Calling the program an invasion of privacy, board vice president Ted
Kinnaman voted to discontinue the random tests. He also said it was
ineffective in rooting out alcohol use, which he called the district' s
biggest problem.

Even next-day drug tests have hard time detecting alcohol because the
substance only remains in the bloodstream 10 to 12 hours after consumption.

"It seems kind of strange that we' re going through this whole process for
something that won' t even show up in the tests," Kinnaman said.

No urine tests conducted on athletes last year indicated the consumption of
alcohol. But other board members argued that the tests served as a
deterrent to drinking for some students. The $30 per alcohol test cost is
relatively cheap compared to other tests, they said.

"If we discontinue (alcohol testing), that does give kids even more reason
to drink," board member Caryn Oleston said.