Williamsburg

SCHOOLS INITIATE DRUG-TESTING PROGRAM

Parents Can Download The Testing Forms From W-JCC's Web Site And Drop
Them Off Or Mail Them.

JAMES CITY -- The Williamsburg-James City County school district is
using new technology to detect underage drinking, officials said Tuesday.

When students are tested this year as part of Williamsburg-James City
County's voluntary random student drug testing program, the medical
lab can detect whether a student has consumed an alcoholic beverage
up to 72 hours before being tested, Director of Student Services
Stephen Chantry said Tuesday night. It's a new type of alcohol test,
and will ensure that if a student parties on the weekend and is
tested early in the week, he or she could still be detected, he said.

Chantry and other officials spoke at a forum to answer questions
about the school district's drug testing policy, which starts this school year.

Middle and high school students will bring home a form on the first
day of school asking students and parents to check "yes" or "no" to
sign the student up to be randomly tested for drugs. About 30 people
attended the forum, most of them were on the community committee to
prevent drug and alcohol use, or were school officials or employees.

The School Board approved a voluntary random drug testing program in
March after debating a mandatory random testing program that would
have been the farthest-reaching in Virginia.

If the program starts out small, it won't be a disappointment, the
co-chairwoman of the group that developed the program said.

"If we see that we get 5 percent return, and those 5 percent are
tested the first year, that's a great start," said Gina Thorne, who
is also director of the Historic Triangle Substance Abuse Coalition.

Parents can download the forms from W-JCC's Web site, drop off the
forms at the school or mail them in if they're worried about students
not returning them to their teachers, officials said.

And when students are called out of their classes to be tested, the
summons will sound the same as if they'd been called to the office or
the media center, they said.

When a parent asked about positive rewards for drug-free kids, Thorne
responded that the first wave of publicity for the drug testing
program is directed toward parents, but that later in the year the
task force will stress the program to students and consider rewards
or recognition for students who have signed up.