BOARD TO STUDY DRUG TESTING PLAN

School board members will talk Monday about a plan to require drug testing
for Alamance-Burlington students who participate in extracurricular activities.

System administrators sent a copy of the plan, written by school board
attorney Ann Majestic, to board members Tuesday. She will be at the board's
meeting Monday night to talk about the proposal. The plan requires high
school students in all extracurricular activities to submit to random drug
testing.

Superintendent Jim Merrill has said it will include students who play
sports as well as those who take classes such as band and chorus. The
proposed policy also applies to students in school clubs. Merrill said
earlier this year the proposal stems largely from an undercover drug
operation in the system's high schools that ended in February 2004 when
dozens of students were arrested on drug charges. Part of the proposal
reads: "The board has determined that this policy is necessary in light of
the documented sale, possession and use of illegal drugs by
Alamance-Burlington students, evidenced by parent and teacher surveys and
undercover law enforcement operations." Under school system procedure, the
board will delay action on the proposal until at least its March meeting to
allow people to offer their opinions.

The board could vote on the policy at that meeting. The policy would
require that: n Students and their parents or guardians consent in writing
to drug testing before the student participates in an activity. Consent
would be required before students try out activities that have try-outs. n
Students face random drug tests throughout their time in the activity, and
"suspicion-based testing may be conducted whenever reasonable suspicion
exists that the student is under the influence of a prohibited substance."

The school system's central office be responsible for finding a way to
randomly choose students for drug testing. The system will "contract with
an authorized drug test administrator for testing "under reasonable and
sanitary conditions" that "maintain(s) student privacy and dignity."

"Any contested positive result shall be confirmed by a scientifically valid
confirmatory test, at the expense of the school system. The student shall
be suspended from participation until confirmatory test results are
provided to the school." A student's first positive result will mean a
three-month suspension from the activity. The student could return after
taking part in a drug assistance program and after passing a drug test, and
would face unannounced drug tests for a year.

A second offense means a suspension of a year from activities, with the
same requirements for reinstatement. A third offense would ban students
from activities from the rest of their time in high school. The proposed
policy says students will have a chance to explain possible reasons other
than drug use for positive test results. "No consequences other than those
outlined (by the policy) shall be associated with random drug testing
procedures," the proposal says. "Evidence of a positive random test result
shall not be the basis of any other student disciplinary action. School
employees shall not notify law enforcement officials of test results."