CLARKSVILLE APPROVES STUDENT DRUG TESTING

Students Who Participate In Extracurricular Activities Subject To Random Tests

High and middle school students who participate in extracurricular
activities -- from basketball players to band members -- may be
subject to random drug and alcohol testing in Clarksville Community
School Corp.

School corporation trustees unanimously approved a "random testing
for drug and alcohol" policy during its meeting Tuesday night.

"Hopefully, we'll never catch anybody," Superintendent Stephen
Fisher said after the meeting.

The policy, Fisher said, is intended to deter students from abusing
alcohol or illicit drugs.

Under the policy, administrators may once a month randomly pull
student information from a kettle. Only those students' names that
are pulled can be tested, Fisher said. School administrators may
choose not to test any students, he said.

Only students who participate in extracurricular activities and
drive to school will be subject to the random testing. Those are the
only students who can be randomly tested under Indiana law, Fisher said.

"We felt like there is a real need," trustees president Bill Wilson
said after the meeting.

But Wilson said he had to overcome reservations about a policy that
intrudes on privacy.

No one spoke during Tuesday night's meeting for or against the proposal.

Corporation administrators spent about two years creating the
policy, but their interest was not sparked by a specific incident, Fisher said.