GALENA HIGH FOOTBALL PARENTS VOTE AGAINST DRUG TESTING

The 90 football players at Galena High School will not take random
drug tests this year after less than two-thirds of parents voted for
the program, a school administrator said Tuesday.

Parents at a Thursday barbecue at the south Reno school were given a
form to indicate their choice. School officials this week collected
the forms and contacted parents who were not at the barbecue, said
Shaun Finnigan, Galena assistant principal for athletics.

Parents of students on the school's girls volleyball and boys and
girls soccer, cross country and tennis will meet at 6 p.m. Monday at
the school to discuss random drug testing.

Each sport needs a two-thirds majority approval from parents for the
drug testing to happen, he said.

"My feeling is it's the parents choice," Finnigan said. "My job as an
athletic administrator is not to make that choice for them."

Random drug testing of student urine is optional on a
school-by-school basis, said Ken Cass, coordinator of athletics for
the Washoe County School District.

Parents and administrators at McQueen and Reed high schools are the
only other district schools to "show interest" in the program and
have agreed to the tests, Cass said.

The school board allowed expanding the program during the seasons of
all sports after tests of McQueen football players last season were
"very successful," district spokesman Steve Mulvenon said.

Football practice opened last week and began Monday for other fall sports.

Parents of athletes pay for the tests in annual payments of about $40.

"Even if (the district) had the funds (to implement the program
districtwide), the board would probably want parental consent," Cass said.

Schools determine the frequency and targets of the tests, said
Katherine Loudon, district coordinator for safe and drug-free
schools. Testing is more expensive for performance-enhancing drugs
than other substances, such as marijuana, she said.

No McQueen student-athlete tested positive, and information from
surveys and focus groups indicated the testing policy significantly
reduced drug use among the players, Loudon said.

If an athlete has a positive result, the school would contact parents
and work with them to find drug counseling or other solutions. After
the first positive result, the athlete can be suspended for up to six
weeks of competition, less with counseling; a second offense means
suspension for 90 days and mandatory counseling; and a third results
is total suspension from athletics, according to Nevada
Interscholastic Athletics Association guidelines.