SOME COUNTY STUDENTS FACE DRUG TESTING

Blount County high school students involved in sports and other
extracurricular activities will be subjected to random drug testing
starting this coming school year.

Returning students at Heritage High School and incoming freshman from
Heritage, Eagleton and Carpenters middle schools were informed of the
new policy Thursday night.

HHS Athletic Director Terri Bradshaw said a mandatory meeting for
athletes and those who might want to participate is normally held at
the beginning of the school year, but it was held now so that
students and parents would be familiar with the policy.

About 400 students and their parents filled the commons area of the
school.

Bradshaw outlined the policy, explaining what was required and how
positive test results would be dealt with.

Bradshaw told students the new policy was not meant as a punishment
but rather to help them.

"We're giving you a tool (to say no), but we're also trying to reach
out to people who need help," she said.

The random drug testing will be done throughout the year, meaning a
student's name could be chosen more than once. The school will also
be able to order a drug test based on "documented reasonable
suspicions," Bradshaw said.

Principal Becca Wolfenbarger said the drug-testing policy also
applies to students who participate in theater arts, band and other
music programs and AFJROTC. These activities take students off campus
on an ongoing basis.

"The primary focus is a legitimate reason to say no," she said.
"It's not meant to punish kids. It gives them a good excuse when
they're with their peers. At least, it gives them a tool that they
can use not to succumb to peer pressure."

A certified lab will do a urinalysis. Students have to sign a consent
form before they will be allowed to participate in an activity.

Bradshaw explained the four levels of positive test results. The drug
testing company will contact parents, but not school administrators
with the first positive test result.

"The purpose of this is to let the parents know so they can do
something," Bradshaw said.

The student will be retested in 30 days. If that result is also
positive, the principal and athletic or other appropriate staff will
be notified, and the student is suspended from participating in the
activity for 30 days. In addition, the student will be required to
undergo drug counseling.

Another drug test will be done at the end of this period. A third
positive drug test will result in the student being suspended from
participating for one year.

A fourth-positive drug test will make the student permanently
ineligible to participate in sports or other activities.

Students who refused to sign the consent form will be handled the
same as having a fourth-positive test, Bradshaw said.

Bradshaw told the students that when they are called up for testing,
if they are taking over-the-counter medicines or prescription drugs,
they need to make it known before the test is done.

Although faculty is not required to submit to random drug testing,
Bradshaw said she intends to and believes the coaches will as well.

"I'm going to be the first one to submit my name for the random
testing," she said.

According to the policy, the testing will be for banned drugs
including "marijuana (THC), alcohol, amphetamines, anabolic
steroids, cocaine, barbiturates and methamphetamines."

The test result can be appealed at the expensive of the parents. All
results will be kept confidential and will not be "part of the
student's permanent record."

HHS's new basketball coach, Tony Hardin, said he is in favor it the
policy and thinks it helps students make better choices.

"It gives players that might be caught in the wrong peer group an
easy out," said Hardin, who coached at Elizabethton High School,
where a similar policy was in effect. A reception was held for Hardin
after the meeting.

Years in the making

Bradshaw said the school system has wanted to institute this policy
for several years. A Supreme Court ruling put schools on firmer
ground for random drug testing by saying that sports and other
activities are a privilege and not a right.

"We've been looking at this about four or five years," she
said.

A nurse at the county's employee clinic will take samples, which also
makes it affordable, Bradshaw said.

Don Talbott, Blount County school board chairman, agreed, saying
using the county nurse "has made it cost-effective to do it."

Talbott said he's glad the school is addressing the issue now so that
students will be prepared when school starts.

"I hope it works as a deterrent. It'll make kids think and give them
a reason to say no," he said. "I'm hoping this will counter peer
pressure."