SCHOOL DISTRICT LEADERS PUT FOCUS ON DRUG USE

Columbia Board of Education members say they've "danced around"
student drug use long enough and are ready to do something about it.

"Maybe the time is right for the development of a community task
force to talk about how we can get a handle on this," board member
Chuck Headley said.

Headley cited substance abuse as one of the issues he wants the
district to address in the coming year during the school board's
retreat yesterday. Other members appeared to agree.

Board President Karla DeSpain suggested developing a multi-agency
work force to tackle the problem from multiple angles. Although it's
a community issue, not just a school issue, "somebody's got to take
it on," she said.

"We've danced around it long enough," David Ballenger agreed. "It's
an issue no one wants to address."

Ballenger served on the school board in January 2001 when a mother
attended a board meeting and accused school officials of denying
there was a drug problem.

Although more and more school districts have adopted drug testing for
students who participate in sports and other extracurricular
activities, the Columbia school board has not talked about that
measure. The board had a brief discussion about the use of drug dogs
earlier this year, but it hasn't entertained the idea.

Yesterday, board members said parents had expressed concerns about
drug and alcohol abuse. Community members have talked to the Tribune
in recent weeks about what they say is a growing problem in the
school district.

In 2003, the St. Louis-based Crossroads Program opened an
administrative office in Columbia because of the growing demand for
services. Since that year, about 50 Columbia families have sent their
teenagers to the program for treatment of drug addiction.

In 2005, the Columbia Police Department arrested 79 teenagers under
the age of 18 for drug-related offenses, Police Chief Randy Boehm
said.

School board member Don Ludwig said he wants to know how kids are
getting drugs and how those substances are getting into schools.

In a drug survey given mostly to ninth-graders earlier this year, 65
percent of students said it's fairly easy to get alcohol, and 62
percent said it's fairly easy to get cigarettes. About 62 percent
also said it would be easy to get marijuana in Columbia, and 75
percent of the surveyed students said they didn't think police would
catch them if they smoked marijuana.

In April, two West Junior students told the Tribune that drugs are
common in the schools. During a Youth Community Coalition forum,
Aurielle Sisson-White and Andrea Thames said their friends are
"wizards at hiding," including girls who hide bags of substances in
their hair clips.

"Drinking is a big thing, but the everyday thing is mostly drugs,"
Aurielle said.

DeSpain said she'd like to know whether open campuses help when
trying to curtail drug use during school hours. Hickman and Rock
Bridge high schools allow kids to leave campus during lunch hours.
Rock Bridge also lets students leave the school grounds during their
unassigned time every other day. DeSpain stopped short of saying a
closed campus would deter drug use, but she said the open campus is
something that should be looked at.

Board members agreed the community is tolerant of drugs and
alcohol.

"That's one strike against us," Ludwig said.

"I don't think laws act as a deterrent," Darin Preis said. "When it
comes to drugs and alcohol, kids are exposed to it as an ordinary
part of what they see."

In the drug survey, 44 percent of the students surveyed know at least
one adult who uses marijuana, cocaine or other drugs. More than 76
percent have known an adult who has gotten drunk or high in the past
year.