POLK CO. CLAIMING POSITIVES OF TESTING

Editor's note: This is the second in a four-part series looking at
the Collier County School Board's bid to implement random drug
testing for its athletes and cheerleaders.

The Collier County School District's decision to start a
drug-testing program for student-athletes is a good idea, according
to administrators in Polk County.

Of course, they're a little biased. The Central Florida county is
entering its third year with a testing policy in place.

Polk County received government grant money three years ago to begin
a program, and the county is happy with the results.

Audrey Kelley-Fritz, Senior Manager of Prevention, Health and
Wellness for Polk County Schools, oversees the district's testing program.

"We've seen quite a drop-off in drug use among our student-athletes,
especially in marijuana use," Kelley-Fritz said. "From anonymous
surveys we've conducted, we've seen a 23-percent drop in marijuana
use over the last three years."

Polk County decided to apply for the federal grant after witnessing
the success of a pilot program at George Jenkins High School in Lakeland.

Diane Werrick, currently the athletic director at George Jenkins,
was a volleyball coach in 1996 and was instrumental in getting the
pilot program started.

"I grew up in Harlem and saw how gangs and drugs destroyed the
neighborhood," Werrick said. "I vowed to never go down that path,
and sports were my way out. I dedicated myself to sports and got out
of that bad situation. I thought a drug-testing program
was important and we were able to get the first one started here at
George Jenkins and I'm very proud of that."

George Jenkins' pilot program was funded by the school board, but
once the money ran out, the program was discontinued in 2000.

"After having some success with their program, the drug use numbers
immediately increased after it was discontinued," Kelley-Fritz said.
"That's when a district-wide policy was discussed. We felt there was
a definite need."

This year, the county has made a change to the way it runs the
program; Kelley-Fritz thinks it will fix a loophole in the system.

For the first two years, the Polk County Drug Court made five visits
per sports season to each school. With each visit, 60
student-athletes were randomly selected for drug testing. Each
student-athlete is given a number, which is randomly picked by a computer.

Now, most schools have hired licensed practical nurses to administer
the tests, which are then sent to the Drug Court for analysis.
Instead of sampling 60 students at once, 10 to 15 a week are sampled.

"This is a significant change, one I really think will keep the
students from testing the system," Kelley-Fritz said. "Before, if
you were tested, you pretty much knew it would be at least a month
before your school was tested again. Now, the test can literally
come any day."

If a student tests positive for drugs, he or she will be suspended
from athletics and assigned to the Mark Wilcox Center aE" the
school's health and prevention center aE" for a substance abuse
assessment. There, the student must complete drug education classes.
If the problem is more severe, medical treatment may be recommended.

"It's not a rehab center, it's a prevention center run by the school
district," Kelley-Fritz said. "It's like a regular school day for
the kids, except they've got to complete the drug prevention classes."

Once the student has completed the classes, he or she can be
reinstated to their sports team. He or she is then subject to drug
testing for one full calendar year after the positive test. If the
athlete fails again, he or she is suspended for one year.

"It's a preventive, not a punitive program," Werrick said. "We're
here to help the students make better choices in their lives, not to
punish them. That's why it's set up the way it is. The student gets
another chance after the first positive test. It's all
about helping these kids stay off drugs."

Steroid testing

Last year, Polk County expanded its drug testing program to include
steroids. But at a cost of $105 per steroid test, the district is
unsure if the program is worth it.

"Right now, we're using some of the leftover grant money to fund
it," Kelley-Fritz said. "We put the steroid testing in, just to test
it out, to see if there was a problem."

Before the steroid testing began, a survey among students said that
about six percent of students had used steroids in the last 30 days.
None of the 300 randomly selected students tested for steroids came
back with positive results.

The steroids test is done independently of the recreational drug
tests. Among the 60 students tested at a school per month, the first
two or three are designated for the steroids test.

"That's why we're not so sure if it's worth keeping the steroids
test in there," Kelley-Fritz said. "Our surveys showed there wasn't
a big problem before we put the test in and if we're only able to
test a small sample of our student athletes, how can we get accurate
numbers? Plus, it's just so expensive to do."

Differing Perspectives

Bill Castle, head coach of Lakeland's 2005 USA Today national
championship football team, supports the drug testing program.

"The bottom line is, the athlete should be expected to stay
drug-free," he said. "If you can't do that, you shouldn't be allowed
to compete in sports."

Castle's athletic director, Sid Kimbrell, takes a slightly different view.

"I think the drug testing is a good idea, but it's definitely a
burden on the athletic director," Kimbrell said. "Many times, I
spend over half my day dealing with it, because every AD is held
responsible for making things run smoothly."

Kimbrell makes sure the randomly selected students make it to their
drug screening. He has to seal off the urinals in the school while
the testing is going on, in an effort to prevent cheating.

"I just wish there was more staff to deal with it," he added. "It's
pretty time-consuming."

James Dodd, a standout offensive lineman for Lake Wales, doesn't
mind being tested for drugs. He knows he's clean and has nothing to
worry about, he said.

What he doesn't agree with is the way athletes are singled out and
not other students.

"I really wouldn't mind the drug testing program at all if it
included more than just athletes," he said. "I'm not going to say
there aren't athletes that do drugs, but I think they're targeting
the wrong people here. For the most part, I believe athletes are
pretty clean. Yet there are a lot of other students that smoke weed
and get away with it."

He also heard of an athlete from another sport refusing to take a
drug test (a student gets one day to reconsider before his or her
outright refusal leads to the automatic one-year suspension), then
deciding to take it the next day.

"This kid smoked weed and found a way to flush his system of the
drug," Dodd said. "He came back, took the test the next day and
passed it. If people are going to do that, how accurate is the drug testing?"

Kelley-Fritz said she'd love to see all students tested, but added
it's illegal to institute such a wide-ranging program. Polk County,
with the help of a local credit union, has an all-inclusive
voluntary drug testing program started at Mulberry High School.
The program was started by a campus anti-drug group, and students
recruit others to join in an effort to celebrate being drug-free.

Athletes As Role Models

"One of the things we had hoped to see with our drug-testing of
student athletes was a decline in usage among non-athletes, thinking
that if these kids hung out together and the athlete decided not to
take drugs or drink alcohol, then maybe that would be a positive
influence," Kelley-Fritz said. "Unfortunately, that hasn't been the
case. The numbers among non-students have remained pretty much the same.

"I don't know if it's the kids hanging out in different circles or
what, but the numbers haven't improved like we hope. That's why
programs such as the one at Mulberry High School are so important."

Kelley-Fritz hopes other school districts will follow Polk County's
lead and institute the program.

"As long as the district is capable of staffing it and funding it,
they really should go for it," she said. "We want to see the
students make good choices, and staying off drugs is so important.
We've seen great results here and I think other counties would, too."

Polk County's Rules

If an athlete refuses to be tested or intentionally fails to report
to the testing site when called, he/she will immediately be declared
ineligible to participate in school sports for the rest of the
season. The same consequence applies to athletes who, in any way,
adulterate or attempt to adulterate a urine sample. The procedures
and advanced technologies used by the Drug Court make it likely that
adulterations will be detected. The consequences for refusing to be
tested or adulterating a sample are much more severe than submitting
honestly and testing positive. If an athlete refuses to test or is
unable to produce a sample, he/she must report to the Drug Court by
the close of the next business day and be tested to remain eligible
for athletics. Students may only take advantage of this extension one time.

If an athlete tests positive for drugs and the Medical Review
Officer/Physician rules that there is no legitimate reason for the
positive test result, the athlete will be suspended from sports and
reassigned to the Mark Wilcox Center for a substance abuse
assessment. It is possible for a student to complete the program at
the Wilcox Center, begin fulfilling the recommendations, and be back
playing sports again within a few weeks.

In the event a student stops his/her participation in the assessment
recommendations prior to successful completion, athletic eligibility
will be suspended. The athlete will not be eligible to participate
during the season and until the recommendations are completely fulfilled.

Athletes who test positive will be subject to regular drug testing
for one full calendar year to make sure he/she is remaining drug
free. Subsequent positive drug tests will result in an athletic
suspension for the remainder of the season. Additionally, following
that season a one-year suspension will begin.