DRUG TESTING: POLICIES VARY

Testing students who participate in extra-curricular activities appears to
be a trend taking hold with area school districts according to a survey
conducted this week.

The Scott County Board of Education approved unanimously last week to move
forward with drafting a policy and seek funding resources to support the
testing.

In an informal survey, The Scott County Times contacted nine school
districts that border Scott County to ask whether those districts either
have policies in place or are considering such policies. Results from that
survey showed that of the nine districts contacted, four districts already
have policies in place, three are considering implementing policies and two
officials reported their districts have no current plans to implement
student drug testing.

Among the districts reporting no current plans, Skip Lathem, superintendent
of Forest Municipal Schools, said although there are "no plans on the table
right now" officially, it does not mean the issue would not come up.

"We are weighing our options," Lathem said Monday. "Our initial response
was to sit back and watch what other districts do. A lot of people are
considering such policies and we would discuss possibilities at the
appropriate time."

Forest was joined by Leake County School District where Shirley Nichols,
assistant superintendent, said her district did not perform student drug
testing and had no plans to consider it.

"It is not on our list of priorities at this time," Nichols said.

The three districts that are considering such policies included Neshoba
County Schools, Union Public Schools and Newton Public Schools.

Neshoba

V.C. Manning, superintendent of Neshoba schools, said consideration has
been underway for about two months. Don Brantley, superintendent of Union
schools, said there has been discussion about it and "the issue is expected
to be discussed at our (board) meeting in May."

Newton

Dr. Mina Bryan, superintendent of Newton schools, said her district does
not have a policy in place but it is something that officials have looked
at recently.

"We really haven't had a problem with students and drugs although we have
had an insignificant number of incidents dealing with this," Bryan said.
"We don't have a policy but it is something we are looking at. I applaud
the other school districts efforts."

The remaining districts are either in their first year of drug testing
students or have had policies in place for several years, officials reported.

Philadelphia

Britt Dickens, superintendent of Philadelphia Public Schools, said his
district is in its first year after implementing a policy in August.
Philadelphia's policy calls for testing students four times each year and
activities involved include sports, band and cheerleading.

"It seems to have gone well for us. We have not had any problems," Dickens
said of their policy. "The intent is not to catch students but to encourage
them not to do drugs."

Philadelphia's policy requires that a student found testing positive for
drugs is suspended from the extra-curricular activity for 28 days and
counseling is recommended.

Smith

Warren Woodrow, superintendent of Smith County Schools, said his district
has had drug testing for seven years and that policy was updated two years
ago. Penalties for a first offense include seeking treatment and then
re-testing. If a second offense for a student is detected, that student is
banned from the participating activity, Woodrow said.

"The implementation went well and the policy since then has been
excellent," Woodrow said. "It has helped encourage students not to do drugs
and provided them a means to resist peer pressure."

Newton County

Billy Pierce, superintendent of Newton County Schools, said his district
adopted a random testing policy two years ago after he sent a
representative to participate in a program, which the state Attorney
General was supporting.

The district adapted its policy from samples provided by the Attorney
General and includes sports, band, choir and other activities covering
"anything that is not classroom based," Pierce said.

"We have received overwhelming support locally for the policy," Pierce
said. "We have had no problems and have not had a lot of tests."

If a student is suspected of using drugs, Pierce said the penalty "depends
on the individual circumstances." Punishment can mean suspension or all the
way to expulsion. If the student's activity were sports-based, that student
would be off the team, Pierce said.

Rankin

Justin Hallett, an official who handles oversight of drug testing for the
Rankin County School District, said his district's policy is in its first
year, "and is probably one of the strictest in the state."

"We approved the policy last August after the U.S. Supreme Court said that
such testing is constitutional and permissible," Hallett said. "It has gone
better than expected and there are no complaints. Students have responded
well to it."

Hallett, who helped draft Rankin's policy, said the policy covers "all
activities where students compete with students from other school
districts." Approximately 10 percent of the students participating in
extra-curricular activities are tested each month, Hallet said.

For first time offenders, the student is suspended from the activity for 28
days. The student is also recommended to seek counseling, which is free if
he or she uses a district counselor or they can use an outside counselor at
their own expense.

The student is then re-tested two weeks later to detect whether the student
is either clean or making progress toward becoming drug free. A third test
is done thereafter to see that the student is completely clean.

If a student is found in a second violation, he or she is suspended from
the school activity for one year and sent to the district's alternative school.

Hallett emphasized that the classroom instruction is not interrupted for a
student found in violation of the policy.

Hallett said the school district was awarded a three-year federal grant to
help support its drug testing program.

In Scott County's consideration of a policy, Cheryl Ferguson, the
district's director of instruction, brought the proposal before the county
school board to see if members supported the idea.

Ferguson said board approval was required to apply for possible grant
funding. The idea received immediate support from board members.

"I would like for us to pursue this whether there is grant funding or not,"
said Dr. Howard Clark, a board member who spoke in favor of the idea.

Ferguson said the proposal would just be for students involved in sports,
band and other after-school programs. Approximately 10 percent of the
students affected would be tested each year.

Superintendent of Education Frank McCurdy voiced support for student drug
testing as a means to encourage students to avoid using drugs.

"We're a few steps away from instituting any kind of policy, but it is
something we are looking at doing," McCurdy said.