STUDENT DRUG TESTING USED MORE WIDELY THIS YEAR

Students returning to school next month look forward to new
experiences: new status, new classes, new teachers, new activities.

What also awaits many of them are new rules, and in some cases a new
student random drug testing policy.

Several school districts - Booneville and Prentiss, Itawamba and
Tishomingo counties among them - are implementing the new policies
for the 2006-07 academic year. Five other school districts in the
region also have drug-testing policies for some or all their students.

"Our students deserve a safe and secure environment to learn, and
this policy is designed to ensure that," said Malcolm Kuykendall,
Tishomingo County's newly appointed superintendent.

Likewise, Prentiss County will implement a random drug testing policy
after examining those used in other area districts and the prototype
available through the state Department of Education.

However, where the new policy in Tishomingo County and Booneville
schools will apply onlyto students involved in extracurricular
activities like band and sports, the Prentiss County policy will
apply to all students, faculty and staff.

"We're going to use ours to randomly drug test any kid in school or
any employee who works for the district," said Prentiss County
superintendent Kenneth Chism. "We just included everybody."

Tishomingo County's random testing of students also will apply to
students who drive vehicles to school.

Effectiveness questioned

Student drug testing is not without its opponents, who insist
research does not support the policies making any difference on
whether young people use drugs.

A 2003 study sponsored by the National Institute on Drug Abuse that
included 94,000 students in 900 American schools, half with a drug
testing policy and half without, found there was no difference in
illegal drug use among students, said Jennifer Kern, spokeswoman for
the Drug Policy Alliance Legal Affairs Department.

Those results were confirmed in a followup study by the Robert Wood
Johnson Foundation, she said.

Although they did not have this data when making a decision about the
Booneville School District policy, superintendent Larry Morgan said
the school board considered data from the U.S. Office of National
Drug Control Policy and recommendations from other
organizations.

"Our information basically has come from talking with other school
districts which have previously had this policy," he said.

In Booneville, the policy will include random testing as well as
testing if there is a suspicion of illegal drug use by students
participating in band and all sports, said Morgan.

"That will probably expand as we go each year," he said. "We looked
at a lot of policies from other school districts and collected
materials over a period of time before putting ours together using
information from all those sources."

Year's experience

South Tippah County School District implemented a student random drug
testing policy during the 2005-06 school year, and superintendent
Wardell Herring said no one tested positive for drugs throughout the
year.

"In all of our communities, there are potential drug situations
available to our students," Herring said. "What we're trying to do
more than anything is help our students be successful, and we feel
the drug culture does not promote a healthy learning body or
environment.

Consequences of testing positive on the random drug test escalate
from a first offense through multiple offenses.

Penalties range in the different districts from suspension from
activities and driving to school on a first offense, and referral to
counseling, to referral to alternative school, one year's suspension
and/or expulsion for additional offenses.

Each district indicated the priority is to get parents involved, get
help for the student and deter further use of illegal substances.

"We are serious about caring for our students, and I do believe
having a drug policy in our district has had a positive impact on our
district," Herring said. "We've had positive feedback from parents
and the community."

The state Department of Education supports student drug testing, a
department spokeswoman said, and through the Division of Safe and
Orderly Schools offers guidelines to help school districts develop
their own policies.

Do they test or not?

SCHOOL DISTRICTS

- - Alcorn County: no

- - Benton County: no

- - Booneville: starts 2006-07 school year

- - Calhoun - no

- - Chickasaw County: no

- - Corinth: no

- - Itawamba County: starts 2006-07 school year

- - Lafayette County: yes

- - Lee County: no

- - Monroe County: no

- - New Albany: yes

- - North Tippah County: no

- - Oktibbeha County: no

- - Oxford: no

- - Pontotoc City: no

- - Pontotoc County: no

- - Prentiss County: starts 2006-07 school year

- - South Tippah County: yes

- - Starkville: no

- - TCPS: no

- - Tishomingo County: starts 2006-07 school year

- - Tupelo: athletes only

- - Union County: yes

For more information about school drug testing: Missississippi
Department of Education, Division on Safe and Orderly Schools:
http://www.mde.k12.ms.us/lead/osos/Threat.htm

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