DRUMRIGHT SCHOOLS PONDER DRUG POLICY

DRUMRIGHT (AP) -- Football players to Future Homemakers of America could be
tested randomly for drugs under a policy proposed for Drumright schools.

The school board will take up a proposal in February that would subject all
students who participate in extracurricular activities to potential drug
tests.

The policy would affect more than 80 percent of Drumright students in sixth
through the 12th grades, including those in groups such as the Fellowship
of Christian Athletes and the Science Club, Drumright Superintendent Roxie
Terry said.

"I want this to say we care about everybody. We don't want to leave anyone
out," he said.

Schools in Commerce, Colcord and Kansas, OK, already have such policies.
The policies expand on measures instituted in recent years for student
athletes.

Joann Bell, state executive director for the American Civil Liberties
Union, calls the testing a "terrible invasion of privacy."

"Everybody has rights in this country -- young people, too," she said.
"They're seemingly picking on the good kids here. It's atrocious and a slap
in the face to the 4th Amendment."

Terry said an initial drug screening would cost an estimated $17 per
student at Drumright.

The policy gives students the opportunity to "say no" to drugs when
pressured by peers, said the superintendent, who has found support for the
idea at two town meetings.