HIGH SCHOOL DRUG TESTS GAINING ACCEPTANCE

Fieldcrest The Latest School To Develop Policy

MINONK - Sports fans might cast doubting eyes toward home run
hitters, cyclists, and Olympic sprinters whose performances are
widely thought to be "enhanced." So some high schools want to make
sure local athletes are clear of the suspicious cloud of athletic
doping before it injects itself into central Illinois locker rooms.

"It's really a sign of the times," said Marty Hickman, executive
director of the Illinois High School Association.

A growing number of schools have adopted random drug testing
policies, some of which will be implemented this year. The latest is
at Fieldcrest Community Unit School District 6 in Minonk.

But Hickman said all Illinois high schools could be subject to random
drug testing procedures in the future, as other states like New
Jersey and California push for tighter regulations.

Right now in Illinois, it's up to the local school districts to test.

"Our efforts in the past have been more educational and it's a
natural progression to move to some kind of testing," Hickman said,
adding that an IHSA sports medicine committee is discussing the issue.

Last month, the District 6 School Board approved a plan that mandates
all students participating in extracurricular activities sign the
policy. It also has to be signed by their parent or guardian and
witnessed by another adult who is not a member of the student's family.

The policy allows for random testing throughout the school year, even
if the activity is not in session.

Superintendent Randy Vincent said it was adopted after a dozen or so
students got into trouble for alcohol and marijuana-related violations.

But Vincent admits that steroids, and the growing suspicion of their
use in professional sports, also played a role.

"It doesn't hurt that some of the schools around us have been having
the same conversations at the same time," he said.

This includes Deer Creek-Mackinaw Consolidated Unit School District
701, where a random drug testing policy has been in place since at
least the mid-1990s.

"Back then, I don't believe the tests we were doing were looking for
steroids and stuff like that," said Rob Houchin, a former principal
at the Deer Creek-Mackinaw High School who is now the Tazewell County
Regional Superintendent of Schools.

District 701 Superintendent Steve Yarnall said the policy serves as a
deterrent and that not many students violate the drug tests.

Still, there will be more random drug tests administered next school
year. Junior high school students will be tested for the first time.

Urine tests cost the district $45 a student. The district has
budgeted about $4,000 for them.

A similar policy exists at El Paso-Gridley Consolidated School
District 11, but a tight budget could force the district to scale
back on its random testing this school year, Superintendent Bill James said.

Farmington Central Community Unit School District 265 has
administered random testing for the past three years, examining about
four students a week.

In Peoria, District 150 students are tested for drugs only if there
is a probable cause based on a student's behavior or condition on
school grounds. There is no random testing policy, spokeswoman
Stephanie Tate said.

At East Peoria Community High School District 309, officials are
bracing for the first year of implementing their own random test program.

"I think it's a good thing," School Board President Garth Knobeloch
said. "It's a shame we have to come to it, but it will show up that
there are a lot of good kids."