DRUG-TESTING POLICY WOULD BE FAR-RANGING

Drumright Wants To Test All Students Who Take Part In Any Extracurricular
Activities.

DRUMRIGHT -- School officials are pushing for Drumright to be the first
school in the Tulsa area with a random drug-testing policy for students
involved in all extracurricular activities.

If the proposal is approved at a February school board meeting, it would
affect more than 80 percent of the students in sixth through 12th grades,
including those in organizations such as the Fellowship of Christian
Athletes and the Science Club, Drumright Superintendent Roxie Terry said.

Northeastern Oklahoma schools in Commerce, Colcord and Kansas already have
adopted such a policy. It expands upon measures instituted in recent years
with regard to testing student athletes.

``To me, that's not sending out the right message,'' Terry said. ``I want
this to say we care about everybody. We don't want to leave anyone out.''

He said the program would send students a message that they will get caught
if they do drugs. It will also give students a good opportunity to ``say
no'' to drugs when peer pressure might persuade them otherwise, he said.

Other area schools want to institute similar drug tests for extracurricular
activities and are watching Drumright's progress, he said.

The U.S. Supreme Court this year allowed an Indiana high school to continue
having students take drug tests in order to take part in extracurricular
activities. The decision, however, did not set a national precedent.

At a school board meeting on Monday, Terry will ask board members for final
input on the proposal and to schedule a town meeting on the subject.

It would be the third town meeting to address the drug-testing policy in
the past three months, during which time Terry has drummed up support.

``The response has been excellent. There's a great deal of support from
parents and students,'' he said. ``We really don't have much of a drug
problem here, but I believe in this program, and so do others.''

If approved at a February school board meeting, testing would begin almost
immediately, Terry said.

Random drug-screening tests would be administered to a small percentage of
students at periods of as long as 14 days between the tests. All of the
students involved in extracurricular activities would be tested at some
point during the school year, Terry said.

He said the policy would affect 82 percent of the 387 students in sixth
through 12th grades. Students participating in Future Farmers of America,
Future Homemakers of America, Student Council and the yearbook would be
among those to be tested.

Terry said he expects a volunteer spirit to bring the testing number closer
to 100 percent. He said several students who are not involved in
extracurricular activities have expressed a desire to participate in the
drug testing, as have teachers and athletics coaches.

``I can tell you that I'll be first in line,'' said Terry, who added that
he's witnessed little opposition to the proposal.

Ed Turlington, principal of Colcord High School in Delaware (( End of
Column 1 )) County, said he's received no complaints from parents or
students since testing began there in August. Even more remarkably, he's
seen no negative test results yet, with more than half of the students
having been tested.

``It's unbelievable. I mean, you know that somebody in any small town is
smoking pot or something,'' he said. ``But then, these kids know they're
going to be tested.''

Joann Bell, state executive director for the American Civil Liberties
Union, calls the testing a ``terrible invasion of privacy.'' Expanding
testing to include academic achievers is hard to figure and largely a waste
of money, she said.

``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.''

Bell said she welcomes any complaints about the drug-testing proposal,
though she realizes that some people are hesitant to come forward because
``they might think it makes them look like they're involved in drugs in
some way.''

``This whole thing will be very invasive, and school officials will learn
things through this testing that should be private,'' Bell said.

Terry said an initial drug screening would cost an estimated $17 per
student at Drumright. Follow-up tests for the 387 students would increase
the thousands of dollars the testing would cost the school district, but
the expense is worth it ``if we can save even one child,'' Terry said.

A student's first positive test would result in a nine-week suspension from
extracurricular activities, he said. A second offense would bring an
18-week suspension from activities and required counseling for the student.
A one-year suspension would follow a third offense.

Confidential information from the testing, which would be known only to
Terry or his representative at the school, would not be forwarded to local
law enforcement authorities, he said.

``They've expressed an interest in that information, but we think we really
might be treading'' on student's rights, he said. ``Could there be some
problem like that we're aiding and abetting by not turning that information
over? I'll let a court decide that.''