A TEST YOU WON'T WANT TO FAIL

With about 1,800 to 2,000 students in the athletic department alone in
CHISD, the implementation of a substance abuse program will be a daunting
process.

The program will include random drug testing for students in grades 7 to
12 participating in extracurricular activities or those who drive to
school.

This means with the start of school just weeks ahead, Drug Testing
Coordinator, Sabrina Smith will certainly have her work cut out for her.

"Each time we have a random test it will be five percent of the student's
in the program," she notes. She also adds that she is not sure exactly how
many students will be affected overall by the program.

"We have not determined how many students overall that will be included
yet, we don't have all of our students drivers here. Extracurricular
athletics alone we have approximately 1800 to 2000 kids and that does not
include band, choir, drill and all that, just athletics."

The students involved will be from Permenter Middle School, Bessie Coleman
Middle School, Ninth Grade Center and Cedar Hill High School. Parents and
students will have a chance to learn more and ask questions at the next
Drug Testing Policy Informational Meeting on Saturday, August 16.

Students and parents will be asked to sign a consent form allowing for the
random drug testing in order for students in the affected grades to
participate in school activities. Students will not be able to participate
until both the parent and the student has signed the form authorizing the
student's participation in the program.

In addition, if a parent does not consent to their child being tested,
then the student will not be able to participate in school sponsored
extracurricular activities.

Students will also not be allowed to participate in practice or the
activity until the consent form is signed. If a student ends his or her
participation in the extracurricular activity in the middle of the year or
season then he or she will pulled from the random drug-testing pool.

Additionally, if a student quits his or her participation in an
extracurricular activity after receiving confirmed positive results, but
later wants to participate in an extracurricular activity he or she must
also complete all suspension requirements prior to participating in any
future extracurricular activities.

Students are chosen randomly and might be ask to take the test more than
one time as well.

Random drug testing in schools is not a new concept. At
www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov it notes that "Since the Supreme Court of the
United States upheld the constitutionality of school-based random student
drug testing in 1995 and 2002, the demand for random student drug testing
has outpaced the Department of Education's grant award program, which has
awarded over $40 million to roughly 140 educational and health entities to
develop, implement, or expand random student drug testing since 2003.
Random student drug testing programs test students who opt-into the drug
testing program with their parents' or guardians' consent; participate in
school athletic programs; or engage in competitive, extracurricular,
school-sponsored activities."

Random student drug testing has become even more popular across the nation
over the past five years because of the Federal Grant Program with over
4,000 schools nationwide having already implemented a random student drug
testing program.

"Student drug testing programs promote safer, healthier school
environments where students can work toward achieving their full
potential," U.S. Department of Education Secretary Margaret Spellings
said. "A good student drug testing program helps students defy peer
pressure and say 'no' to drugs and alcohol, and provides the opportunity
for at-risk students to get the support they need."

In Cedar Hill the drug-testing will include a four-step process:
collection, screening, confirmation, and review. Urinalysis will be the
testing method used, which is normally recommended for its accuracy and
reliability.

Students will be tested for any substances that are illegal to buy,
possess, use, sell, or distribute under state or federal law, including
but not limited to marijuana, cocaine, phencyclidine (PCP), propoxyphene,
opiates, methamphetamines, hallucinogens, and metabolites of any of these
substances; prescription drugs; performance-enhancing drugs, including
steroids and alcohol. Students taking prescription drugs must provide a
copy of the prescription.

In the frequently ask questions posting at the Cedar Hill Independent
School District website it was noted that "Cedar Hill ISD is concerned
about the academic, physical and emotional well-being of all its students,
and believes it has a responsibility to assist students in dealing with a
variety of teen issues including drug and alcohol use. The drug testing
program is designed to identify students in need of help and to provide
them, and their parents, with the necessary opportunity to deal with
substance abuse."

The objectives of the program were listed as serving as the foundation for
the program:

* To ensure the health and safety of all students who represent the
District in any extracurricular activities;

* To serve as a deterrent to the use of illegal drugs,
performance-enhancing drugs, and/or alcohol among the student body;

* To offer students a credible means to resist peer pressure as it relates
to the use of illegal drugs, performance-enhancing drugs, and/or alcohol;

* To provide a ready resource of support and assistance to any student who
may be using illegal drugs, performance-enhancing drugs, and/or alcohol.

"We are excited about the opportunity for this to be a deterrent for our
kids. We are obviously in the kid business and we want to do everything we
possibly can to help them make good decisions," notes Gina Farmer, Cedar
Hill's Athletic Director.