DEBATED DRUG-TESTING POLICY IN LIMBO PENDING ADDITIONAL EXPLORATION

Alexander school board members voted unanimously Thursday to rescind
a controversial drug-testing policy until research can be completed
for a possible new drug-prevention policy.

Superintendent Robert Bray recommended the school board rescind the
policy and conduct a survey of taxpayers in the district to see what
they thought would be the best policy for drug prevention in
Alexander schools.

The board will seek the advice of Brian Quick, professor of
communication studies at Ohio University, during the February board
meeting to see what information the board will need to make a good
decision on a new policy.

During the board meeting Thursday, two new members, Gordon Brooks and
Mike Chapman, were sworn into the Alexander school board. Brooks and
Chapman won their positions on the board during the November
elections, unseating Synthia Clary and Steve Thomas, who both voted
to implement the original drug-testing policy.

Many Alexander district parents came to the board meeting last week
to share their ideas on how they would like the "new" school board to
be run.

"I think that the election in November showed that people wanted an
overwhelming change ... part of establishing this change is
establishing the role of the administration and not overstepping
those bounds," Alexander district parent Doug Keiter said. "One thing
that I'd like to see changed is that I'd like to see these board
meetings turn into a public participation meeting. I'd like to be
able to raise my hand and speak any time instead of just standing up
here and giving a monologue."

Sally Jo Wiley, leader of the parents who threatened to sue the
Alexander School Board for conducting a committee meeting not open to
the public, which resulted in the controversial drug policy, said she
would like to see the board go back to a "question and answer, give
and take" format. She said she would like to improve the relationship
between the parents and the administration.

"We weren't paying close enough attention, and the board tried to
sneak (the drug-testing policy) through," Wiley said. "We didn't know
anything about (the policy) until we heard that (the board) was doing
it."

The group of parents who threatened to sue the school board is still
together, Wiley said. Its future role will be to participate more in
school board meetings in order to stay informed, so the board will
not be able to conduct any meetings free from public scrutiny.

"It was a major change for the good with the two new board members
being sworn in," Wiley said. "(The new board members) were our
independent people who will be our independent thinkers and won't be
as easily led as the last board."

Board member Fred Davis and Wiley shared the same idea about what
kind of drug-prevention policy would be best for Alexander schools.
Both said a drug-prevention education plan - rather than a
drug-testing plan - for kindergarten through twelfth grade students
would be best for curbing student drug use.

The Alexander school board suspended its drug-testing policy for the
remainder of the year during the November board meeting to avoid a
potential lawsuit over the state's open-meetings law. A group of
district parents thought the school board violated the open-meetings
law when it created the drug-testing policy during committee meetings
that were not open to the public.

The policy was examined during the January meeting by the new board
members to establish a position on the policy for the remainder of
the school year.

Board member Dale Sinclair was not present for the vote that
rescinded the policy.