INTERVENTION - HELP GOES BEYOND DRUGS

As a follow-up of the recent article about student abuse of
prescription medications, many people have asked about what types of
support services are available, in addition to classroom teachers and
administrators in the Rowan-Salisbury School System, to help students
with drug problems.

The next few articles will highlight some of the various support
positions within the school system and their role in addressing many
student issues.

In the early 1990s, funds from a federal substance abuse prevention
program were used to hire the first intervention specialists in the
school system. Drug policies and assessment were put into place in
the code of conduct, which also solidified the responsibilities of
the position for the intervention specialist.

Since the 1990s, the program and realm of responsibilities have grown
for this group. The school system now has an intervention specialist
at each middle school and each high school for a total of 13 and one
transition specialist at Henderson. All are certified in either
counseling or school social work due to the No Child Left Behind
highly qualified guidelines. As the title denotes, the intervention
specialists are present in the schools to "intervene" with
appropriate resources and assistance to at-risk students. Personnel
such as the intervention specialists can play an important role in
helping students to make healthy choices.

Intervention specialists handle all student drug infractions and are
the drug testing coordinators at their sites. All high schools in the
Rowan-Salisbury School System offer the "CHOICES" Program, a
voluntary random drug-testing program. Parent permission for a
student to participate is required. Students who desire to purchase a
campus-parking permit must agree to participate in the program and be
randomly drug tested (beginning in September and ending in May).

Participation in the CHOICES program has been minimal this year. Most
of the students who have been tested are students with parking
permits. All students who participate in allied health must have a
drug test to be placed in a clinical setting.

Monthly, random, confidential testing results will only be released
to parents and individuals involved in the intervention process,
including the administrator of the school. A positive test result for
students participating in CHOICES will not result in suspension nor
affect the student's grades, but parking permits are revoked for 90 days.

However, participation in CHOICES does not excuse students from any
sanction outlined in the substance abuse policy if the behavior
suggests or evidence indicates a violation of the policy.

Between September and November of 2008, 290 students in the CHOICES
program were randomly tested with a 10-panel lab drug screen. Seven
of the tests came back positive, three had to be retested and 280
were negative. About 10 students are randomly selected each month
from each high school. (Allied health students are not randomly
selected. They register for the course knowing they must be tested.)

Advocates of student drug testing share anecdotal accounts of the
success of drug testing in reducing drug use. Drug testing can be of
benefit not only in identifying drug use, but also the preventative
effect of testing in deterring students from drug usage. Adolescents
are particularly vulnerable to the effects of drugs, and the earlier
an adolescent begins using drugs, the more likely he or she will
develop a substance abuse problem or the disease of addiction,
according to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

The intervention specialists are involved in more student issues than
just drug intervention and testing. The intervention specialists
program replaced the previous pregnant adolescent program. Therefore,
they are responsible for coordinating school health services for
pregnant students and/or parenting students. They often conduct
classroom sessions on topics including substance abuse, teen
pregnancy, violence prevention, coping skills, decision-making,
problem solving, dealing with grief, self-esteem, character
development and school success.

Intervention specialists are available for staff training on topics
such as adolescent substance abuse, teen pregnancy, violence
prevention, grief counseling, dysfunctional families, adolescent
development, behavior management, mediation and character
development. The intervention specialists serve as liaisons between
the school system and outside agencies to provide as many resources
for our students as possible. The school system recognizes the
important role that intervention specialists play in the lives of our students.