NO INPUT YET ON RANDOM DRUG SCREENS

Commerce Schools

COMMERCE - With little discussion and no input from parents, a proposal to
give random drug tests to students in Commerce City Schools cleared its
first hurdle Monday.

The Commerce Board of Education could implement the policy at its April 11
meeting.

School officials say there is not a drug problem within the 1,425-student
school system; rather, the policy to randomly test students is meant to
give kids an excuse to say no if pressured to use drugs. Students with
privileges, even as common as driving to school every day, would be
subjected to the random tests, and the privileges could be revoked if they
test positive.

"Anything you can do to deter it, you need to do," school board Chairman
Arthur Pattman said. "You've got to try to stay ahead. You've got to put
policies in place to protect these kids. That's all we're trying to do."

Superintendent Larry White sent a letter to parents Monday informing them
of the board's proposed drug-testing policy. No one spoke about the policy
at Monday's meeting.

Under the proposed rule, middle and high school students will be randomly
selected by a third-party company, and a school nurse will use a swab to
take saliva samples from students. Punishment escalates for each failed test.

A first offense will land a student in a conference with his parents and a
school staff member, such as the principal, in addition to drug counseling.
A second offense will net a 45-day suspension from privileges, but the
student can apply for reinstatement after he passes another drug test and
participates in drug counseling.

If a student fails a third drug test, he would lose privileges for a year,
according to a draft of the policy. After the year, the student could
participate again after he passed a drug test and completed a drug
assessment or counseling program.

"We're not throwing the book at kids," White said. "We're just trying to
give a certain segment of kids an excuse to say no. Peer pressure is
getting tougher all the time."

School administrators will continue to count a student's failed drug tests
through his or her middle school and high school careers, but violations
would not carry over from middle to high school, according to the proposed
policy.

In creating the policy, school officials based their proposal on schools in
Calhoun and Thomaston where similar policies are used.

Among the drugs students would be tested for are alcohol, anabolic
steroids, cocaine, marijuana and propoxyphene, a pain killer, according to
a draft of the policy presented at Monday's board meeting.

Under the policy, school officials could use any variety of test, including
taking urine, tissue or hair samples. However, nurses will use swabs to
collect samples from students, White said.