DRUG TESTS NOT IN INCLINE HIGH SCHOOL'S IMMEDIATE FUTURE

INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. - Incline High School doesn't have immediate plans to
implement random drug tests for students participating in extra
curriclulars, said athletic director Dan Schreiber.

The tests - which can cost almost $40 a pop - won't be instituted at
Incline next year because of the difficult financial climate, Schreiber
said, although he said he thinks they are a great idea.

"Quite honestly I think you're going to see it everywhere in the next
couple of years," Schreiber said. "I think in any athletic arena it's a
positive, the central idea behind it is the safety of the kids, and that's
what we're here for."

Random drug tests will be the norm for Carson High School athletes next
year after the school district's school board last week unanimously adopted
the measure.

It's the second Lake Tahoe Basin county to institute such tests, joining
Douglas County, which implemented the idea in mid-April. For Douglas, it
takes effect in the fall and applies to the 900 or so students, including
ninth-graders, who sign contracts of conduct to participate in sports,
band, speech and debate and other extracurricular activities.

Washoe County also allows its schools to randomly test student athletes for
a variety of drugs and even alcohol if it was used within a 72-hour window
before the test is administered.

The district tested the screenings in 2007 with the McQueen High School
(Reno) football team, to results Ken Cass, WCSD director of student
services, deemed "incredibly positive."

"It was worth it, the test results and surveys we did with athletes,
teachers, coaches and parents were extremely positive, a majority of people
were behind it," Cass said.

Carson and Douglas high schools are the third and fourth schools in Nevada
to go to mandatory drug testing of its student-athletes.

Green Valley High School in Henderson and McQueen currently drug test
through Sport Safe Testing Service Inc., located in Powell, Ohio. The
company does drug-testing at 70 school districts around the country.

Cass said the WCSD is looking for funding currently to institute the tests
district-wide, but for now individual schools are on their own to implement
athletic testing.

"The problem is the cost of the tests," Cass said. "It's about $37, and
we're a much bigger district than Carson; it's going to be expensive to
institute it right away."

Schreiber said Incline may have a similar program for the 2010-11 school
year, but wasn't certain.

The Carson test, paid for by a $20,000 grant, tests athletes for 13
substances, including alcohol, cocaine and marijuana.