USD-379 TAKES STEPS TO RANDOMLY TEST FOR DRUGS

The Drug Test Policy Committee of the USD 379 School Board decided by
consensus Thursday to recommend the board hire a company to do random
testing and set a goal to start drug testing by the start of the second
semester.

The committee recommends the school board hire Sports Safe, an Iowa based
company that does nothing but random drug tests for schools. The committee
also revised a policy on how testing will be done. The recommendations
will be presented to school board at the December meeting. If approved by
the board's January meeting, random drug testing would go into effect at
the start of the second semester.

Superintendent Mike Folks said the company charges $28 per test, which is
considerably lower that other proposals. When Folks asked the company how
they could do it at that price, the company said it was because they do
nothing but random drug tests, Folks said.

"Another positive is this is what they specialize in, this is the only
thing they do," Folks said.

Normally the company charges $27 per test, but will charge USD 379 a
dollar more because they believe they may have to pay a collector a little
more or bring someone in from out of county.

The company normally tries to use someone local to do the collection. Clay
Center High School assistant principal Bud Young said bringing someone
from out of county such as Manhattan would avoid a local person being
"ridiculed" if a kid tests positive.

"It might be a good idea not to have someone local," Young said. School
nurses aren't being used for collection to avoid those same kind of
conflicts, he said.

The company does charge more in the event of a "shy bladder" or when
students say they can't produce, because of the additional cost of taking
the student to another facility for testing, Folks said.

Sports Safe contacts parents about a positive result before contacting the
school district, and the parents only when a trace amount below the
school's policy is detected, Folks said.

"I thought that was a positive," he said.

Before recommending Sports Safe to the school board, the committee asked
Folks to obtain a sample contract, ask if the district could have a say in
who does the collection and to ask who is contacted when an 18-year-old or
older tests positive.

The school district had the option to do oral swabs with one vendor
instead of urine tests, but a medical review officere recommended not to
use oral swabs. Oral fluids are less reliable and only detect marijuana
within 24 hours, where urine test can detect between 10 and 30 days,
according to the medical review officer.

The committee also finalized a policy on how students will be randomly
drug tested. Among other things, the policy determines what students will
be tested and what percentage will be tested.

Committee and board member Jean Frigon said the intent of the drug policy
was to test students in extra curricular activities, not to test as many
students as possible.

"We're not out to get people, but hopefully, to save some people," Frigon
said.

Therefore, students won't be tested because they attend a school activity
as a spectator, because they drive on school campus or because they are in
an activity like band to receive a grade only. However student in an
activity that receives a grade for class will be tested if they attend
competitions or events in that activity outside of the graded class, such
as band members who play at football games.

Band students will be included in the pool of students to be tested, Folks
said.

Up to 10 percent of students will be tested at the same time and between
Clay Center and Wakefield schools, the same percentage of students will be
tested at each building.

Students won't be allowed to participate in activities unless they sign
consent to be tested. In the winter sports, Young said three of the girls
basketball team and five or six of the boys basketball team haven't yet
signed consent because they didn't participate in fall activities; and all
wrestlers have signed. No students have refused to sign the contract,
Folks said.