MEDINA SOLIDIFIES POSITION ON DRUGS

"I came to Medina because I felt it was a great place to raise my
kids, and I still believe that."

This was Medina Independent School District Athletic Director Keith
Mills' summary of his feelings regarding the much-talked-about
situation involving a teacher and student who spoke out at the May
school board meeting against administrators. Both accused the
district, from Mills to High School Principal Ross Hord, to
Superintendent Randy Moczygemba, of turning a blind eye to tobacco,
alcohol and illegal drug use by students at school.

Since those accusations were made, overwhelming support has been
shown for the school administrators by teachers, district employees
and school board members.

"They have never overlooked anything; they've done their job," MISD
Board President Robert DeLeon said. "Our administrators and
employees have done a great job."

DeLeon and others have said that, while they recognize every
community in the United States, regardless of size, has been infected
with substance abuse, they believe the school district is doing its
best to educate students and eliminate the problem at school.

"I would say every community has problems - to what extent Medina
[has problems], I don't know," Mills said. "I moved here for one main
reason: I wanted my kids to grow up in a small town atmosphere that
was safe and offered a good education. If I didn't believe that was
still the case, I would not be here."

Mills has been with MISD for seven years. He took over as Athletic
Director in 2005.

Students at MISD are provided several layers of drug education over
the course of their 13 years in school, starting with the Drug Abuse
Resistance Education (DARE) program at the elementary level. Medina
is extending its DARE program to the junior high level for the
2006-07 school year. MISD participates in the National Red Ribbon
Week for a Drug-Free America program, during which teachers
incorporate anti-drug messages and information into their curriculum
and activities. In 2005, MISD added a program provided by Sergeant
Bill Davis of Beaumont, which teaches on the subjects of drug and
alcohol awareness, date rape, and other mature topics for high school students.

One thing MISD has lacked consistency in is teacher and employee drug
awareness education, which the superintendent admits.

"We have not had an ongoing awareness program for employees,"
Moczygemba said. "That's something we may consider implementing more of."

Moczygemba said he has contacted the district's law firm to set up a
full-day staff development with teachers in August, which will touch
on the subject of substance abuse by students and how to deal with
those situations legally and appropriately. He said this development
day was planned before, and not in response to, the accusations made
at last month's school board meeting.

As far as school and athletic department policies go, administrators
and school board members all expressed confidence in the wording,
consequences, and severity of the district's drug policies. Student
violations of the school's substance abuse policies in the past, four
or five instances over the last six years according to Moczygemba,
have resulted in Alternative Education Placement each time. Athletes
must also run miles to be able to reenter the athletic program; up to
50 miles for a third offense with tobacco, for example. In a
comparison provided by Mills to the school board during their June 8
meeting, MISD's athletic department substance abuse policies are more
stringent than the majority of class 1-A schools in Texas, and only
more lenient than one or two others in the state.

Mills said that the accusations made against administrators at last
month's school board meeting were "not true at all" and ensured the
school enforces its substance abuse policies without fail.

"In the athletic department, we talk about this at the beginning of
each year," Mills said. "We tell the students drugs, alcohol and
tobacco are bad for you, can be devastating, and are illegal. We go
through the policy with them every year. We even hand it out to the
kids, they have to sign it, and their parents have to sign it. If [a
situation] comes up, and we're made aware of it, we take care of it
and we will continue to do so."

After being contacted by the Bulletin on June 11, Swander submitted
the following statement by e-mail:

"I would like to clarify my intentions. Rather than focusing on me,
the focus should be on the problem - investigate and be pro-active,
not just re-active. Students who have been afraid to come forward
have spoken candidly to me, and I believe them, without a doubt. I
sincerely feel that a strong partnership needs to be formed between
the administration, teachers, staff, students, parents and community.
Please do not turn a blind eye to this or any other situation that
harms the health and well-being of the kids."

As of June 12, no other student, teacher or district employee has
come forward to support Swander's accusations.

Random Drug Testing

"People and districts all over the state have kicked around the idea
of random drug testing for athletes, and I've got mixed emotions
about that," Moczygemba said.

Students have a right to free and public education, and cannot be
randomly drug tested as a preface to admission to the school or
classes. Athletics and other extracurricular activities, however, are
considered a privilege, and therefore can make use of random drug testing.

Even so, Moczygemba said there are numerous student rights issues
that come into play when considering enacting random drug tests.

"A lot of districts have been challenged in court and otherwise in
the community," Moczygemba said. "Parents say, 'My kid isn't doing it
so my kid shouldn't have to submit to that.'"

An alternative, Moczygemba said, was to implement a drug-free student
program with voluntary drug tests.

"I recall one district where parents were concerned about their own
children and drug use, and the program they looked at implementing
was a drug-free student program where any student who wanted to could
be tested," Moczygemba said. "The school provided the location and an
agency to do the testing, and it was essentially voluntary. Those
kids were then card-carrying members of the drug-free program."

Another issue raised by random drug testing is the situation where
one individual can be randomly chosen multiple times, leading to
accusations of targeting that individual.

"We do random drug testing of all of our bus drivers, as required by
law, but I can tell you a couple of situations where we had employees
get [randomly chosen] every time," Moczygemba said. "Someone could
become paranoid because they are getting chosen every time. If
someone's kid gets drawn every time, the parents are going to ask,
'Are you trying to say my kid has a problem?'"

Neither the Texas Education Agency nor the University Interscholastic
League, the latter of which governs public school athletics, have
made any notable efforts to require districts to use random or other
drug testing for extracurricular activity participation.

"UIL has really tried to crack down on steroid use by athletes, but
even that has not come to a point where it's mandatory for random
drug testing," Moczygemba said.

For more information about MISD's drug policies or to discuss the
issue of substance abuse among students, call Moczygemba at 830-589-2855.