TEMPLETON OKs DRUG TESTING

Student athletes in the Templeton School District will be subject to random
drug testing starting next school year.

The district is only the second in the county to institute a mandatory urine
testing policy for its athletes, taking a cue from a program begun at
Shandon School District last year.

The Templeton school board unanimously approved the mandatory drug testing
program for all student athletes Thursday night at a meeting in which board
members haggled over wording within the new policy, but in which there was
little dispute over the idea.

The policy came before the board as a proposal two weeks ago, at a meeting
in which a handful of parents echoed the thoughts of local American Civil
Liberties Union representative Hank Alberts, decrying the idea of mandatory,
random drug testing as an invasion of privacy.

But the controversy had all but dissipated Thursday, with Alberts presenting
the only opposition in his request that the district pursue a voluntary drug
testing program.

"Mandatory and random drug testing is harsh," Alberts said to the board. "It
is an intrusive invasion of privacy, and such tests are a presumption of guilt."

But board member David LaRue pointed to professional sports as an
illustration of why such a policy in the district would be acceptable.

"In terms of privacy, the pros dont bring it up," LaRue said. "Thats just
the cost of playing a sport."

The board passed the policy with little discussion other than to tidy up its
language. High school football coach Jerry Reynolds and athletic director
Phil James, who attended the boards June 24 meeting, were absent Thursday.

The policy requires all student athletes to take an initial drug test at the
beginning of their first season of play. Throughout the season, athletes
would then be subject to random drug testing.

Students who test positive must stop practicing and playing in their sport
while a second verification test is performed.

Should the second test also be positive, the athlete would be allowed to
continue practicing with the team, but would be subject to bi-weekly
retesting. They also would be forced to sit out half the remaining games of
the season, or more, until new bi-weekly tests come back clean.

The athlete also would be required to enter a counseling program and would
be liable for all retesting costs.

Students will be barred from participating in sports if they refuse to
submit urine samples.

Although district officials are negotiating with a company that would charge
$12.80 per drug test, the full yearly cost of the program will depend on the
number of students participating in sports. District Business Manager Diana
Larsen told the board their approval of the policy Thursday did not lock
them into a deal with any one company.

Larsen said the district could pay for the drug testing with money from its
general fund, but also may be able to use funding included in the recently
passed state budget.

Board member David LaRue asked Larsen to present the board with her top
three funding recommendations at the next board meeting, July 22. At that
time, the board also will give final consent to the wording of the policy.

Board President Kim Holmes raised the issue of extending the policy to other
extracurricular activities, such as the Chess Club or Mock Trial team, but
the board ultimately decided to stick with just athletics for now, citing
the difficulty of keeping track of members of other, less-defined gatherings.

"Lets implement this right now for sports," said board member Rick Graff.

"Then, we should look at it in three months, when we can add these other
things. But first, lets try it and see if it works. It may not."

The U.S. Supreme Court has consistently upheld a 1995 ruling that allows
schools to develop and enforce drug testing policies for all extracurricular
programs, or programs that are not connected by grade to any classes.