ROWAN-SALISBURY SCHOOL BOARD TO BRING IN EXPERT ON RANDOM DRUG TESTING OF
HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

EAST SPENCER -- Members of the Rowan-Salisbury Board of Education
voted Monday to bring in a national expert for a seminar on how random
drug testing of high school students might be implemented locally.

The unanimous vote came during the board's monthly
meeting.

Board members voted to spend up to $500 to fly Bill Judge, director of
Laws in Hand Informational Services of Oak Park, Ill., to meet with
them. Officials with the Rowan-Salisbury School System said Judge is
an expert on advising how to implement random drug testing of high
school students.

They said Judge agreed to meet with them for free, as long as his air
fare and motel expenses were paid.

Board member Jim Shuping, a vocal proponent of random drug testing of
students, said if the cost of air fare and motel exceeded $500, he'd
pay out of his own pocket any difference up to $1,000.

"If we save 10 kids in the next 10 years, it's a success," Shuping
said of random drug tests.

He said many students begin dabbling with drugs because of peer
pressure, and if the threat of being randomly tested for narcotics is
present, many will opt not to experiment.

At Monday's meeting, Tina Leben, who heads South Rowan High School's
CHOICES, reported to the board about the program's success.

CHOICES is an acronym for Caring How Our Influence Changes Every
Student. It's a voluntary program where students sign up for random
drug tests. Leben said about 400 of South Rowan's students are
involved in the program, the only one of its kind in Rowan County.

Leben said a table was set up in the lobby of South Rowan earlier this
year when rising ninth-graders participated in the school's Freshman
Run.

She said that when parents found out about the program, they hustled
to sign their children up for random drug tests.

"Parents couldn't get to the table fast enough," Leben
said.

She said the school's student council pays for the random drug tests,
which cost about $25 each. Leben said seven students are tested each
month. She said that in the approximately four years the program has
been in place, only one South Rowan student has tested positive for
illegal drugs.

"It's a wonderful program," Leben said. "Students tell me, 'I used to
do drugs, but I don't anymore. Can I please sign up?' "

She noted that the program is needed, saying, "If you're in the ninth,
10th, 11th or 12th grade and you're doing cocaine or marijuana, you've
got a problem and you need help."

Leben said the program's testing is anonymous, but also noted that
students, "love to tell people they tested negative. They're very proud."

She continued, "Lots of kids don't do drugs."

Shuping said he liked CHOICES and would love to see a similar program
in place at other Rowan County high schools. But he said that what
he'd like to see even more was the random drug testing of more
students, those who participate in athletics, for instance, or even
those who apply for on-campus parking permits.

Board attorney Don Sayers cautioned that implementing such a program
might be more difficult than Shuping realized. He said the U.S.
Supreme Court has yet to make a hard decision on random drug testing
of students, but noted that unless the guidelines regarding such tests
are strict, "At the very least, you're probably begging a lawsuit.

"The policy has to be carefully crafted," Sayers continued, "so when
the court looks at it, there has to be a good reason why you're
testing a specific group. Clearly, you can't adopt a random,
across-the-board testing of all students."

Dr. Alan King, an assistant superintendent with the Rowan-Salisbury
School System who was principal at South Rowan when CHOICES was
introduced, noted that drug testing of students is not done for
punitive reasons.

Students who test positive aren't turned over to law-enforcement
officers for prosecution, King said, and even suspensions from
athletic teams should be short-term rather than long-term.

"The main issue is prevention as opposed to trying to punish someone,"
agreed Dr. Bob Heffern, another assistant superintendent.

The time and date of the meeting with Judge has yet to be determined.