DRUG TESTING APPROVED BY SCHOOL BOARD FOR FALL START

ERWIN - After a couple of years of planning, the Unicoi County School
System will start this fall conducting drug tests of its high school
athletes.

The Board of Education, which talked about the issue at length at a
work session Tuesday, approved the policy unanimously without
discussion on Thursday. The panel agreed to expedite the measure by
waiving its first and second readings and approving it on third reading.

Beginning with the fall sports season, athletes in grades nine through
12 will be subject to random tests for drugs and alcohol. The policy
will be effective on the first day of practice for each sport, meaning
players in fall sports will be at risk of tests for a longer period in
the first year than those participating in winter and spring sports.
But once an athlete is entered into the testing program, he or she is
never removed.

Board member Steve Scott suggested on Tuesday that winter and spring
athletes should face the prospect of tests earlier than they will in
the first year. The policy adopted Thursday did not incorporate that
wish. According to board member Renea Rogers, the policy would be
reviewed in a year and the school system's Athletic Council would
apprise the board of any issues that arise during this school year.

Earlier this week, board member Becky Shealy was unsure how she would
vote on the proposal, but she said after Thursday's meeting that she
had talked to some coaches and high school Principal Allen Rogers and
was swayed that this policy would be an incentive for athletes to stay
away from alcohol and drugs.

"I really wish we could do everyone," Shealy said, referring to all
students who participate in extracurricular activities. "But I
understand there's just not the money there to do it. I just didn't
want to single out the athletes. But, like they said, we'll start
slowly and see how it goes and then we'll have to make changes in it."

When board member Bubba Evely talked to the coaches, the feedback was
this policy was a "positive step for the athletes to be an example to
the rest of the student body." He has talked to both of his sons, who
played ball in the Unicoi County School System, and said he believes
they think it's a good thing.

"I think if we have a testing policy and it's a deterrent and keeps
even one child from using drugs, then I think that's a positive step,"
he said. "Hopefully, it will be a deterrent for our young people not
to use drugs or alcohol, either one."

Rogers said the school system needed to start somewhere.

"I do feel like not only in our county but across the state and across
the nation that drugs are becoming a problem everywhere," she said.
"And I agree with the coaches when they say that they feel like the
athletes are the leaders. I'm also concerned about the health issues
of our athletes. It's very dangerous."

In other matters, the school board heard a report from Larry Howell,
who oversaw the summer school program for students in first through
eighth grade that was held at the high school. The program included
topics such as music, physical education and art, and also consisted
of trips to local facilities, such as the library and Tri-Cities
Regional Airport. He said 41 students received free dental screenings
from the Northeast Tennessee Regional Health Office.

While as many as 188 students came on a particular day for the
program, the average attendance was 154, Howell said. Of the parents
who responded to a survey on the program, he said all of them felt it
was a good learning experience and would help the child in the fall,
he said.