CHEATERS, DRUGGIES FACING TOUGHER PENALTIES

If Jim Waldo had his way, any Smith-Cotton High School student in the band,
football team or chess club would be subject to random drug tests.

The Sedalia school board voted Monday to increase penalties for students
participating in extracurricular activities who are caught drinking alcohol,
doing drugs or cheating on tests.

Mr. Waldo, a member of the Sedalia school board, suggested the district have
all students participating in extracurricular activities and class
activities such as band and choir subject to the random tests.

"In the absence of a random testing program, there's no incentive for kids
to stop because they know they won't get caught," said Mr. Waldo, who has
two children in high school, an eighth-grade daughter and a daughter who
graduated from Smith-Cotton in 2004.

When students sign up for extracurricular activities, "they're agreeing to
certain standards of conduct and one of the things they're agreeing to is
not to use drugs or alcohol," Mr. Waldo said. "I'm absolutely certain there
are a lot of kids that would like to say no, but their friends are important
to them, and they want to keep those friends. There's a lot of pressure."

A student who plays saxophone or excels on the football field might find it
easier to say no to classmates when trips, competitions and scholarships are
on the line, he said.

For students caught drinking, the board upped the penalty to a suspension
from 25 percent of the year's games and activities to 50 percent for a first
offense -- the same penalty for students caught using or possessing drugs.
Students caught smoking will be suspended from 25 percent of games or
activities, compared to 10 percent last year. Those caught cheating on tests
or assignments will be suspended from 25 percent of games and activities for
a first offense, up from 10 percent.

Students caught late in the year or athletic season will have their
suspensions carried over to the following season.

Activities Director Rob Davis said Tuesday that alcohol and drug abuse is
not a growing concern, but an ongoing one.

"I've been here for two years, and I've never had a tobacco incident," Mr.
Davis said. "I've probably had about half a dozen alcohol incidents and one
drug-related."

A group of students gathered Tuesday at the Katy Park said drug use runs
rampant at the school.

"If you were there for a week, you'd see it," said sophomore Marc
Brewington. "They have a wake and bake, they wake up, get high and go to
school. Tests are a good idea. We don't need a bunch of druggies. I think
people will just quit doing drugs because they're gonna get caught."

At Liberty Park, freshmen Sara Vansell and Sarah Bartlett, both 15, said
they were aware of drug use among other students in eighth-grade and would
welcome tests.

"I'd be like 'go ahead.' I'm clean," Ms. Vansell said.

Other area school districts test students. The Northwest School District,
with a high school in Hughesville, spent $1,900 this year to test 54
students at a cost of $35 a test, said Amy Fagg, the district's new
superintendent.

The Northwest district has been testing students using urine samples for at
least two years, when Mrs. Fagg started work at the school as principal.

No students have tested positive at the school over those two years.

"It acts as a deterrent," Mrs. Fagg said.