YUKON DRUG-TEST PLAN PROCEEDS

YUKON - School officials said Tuesday they will proceed with
developing a drug-testing policy despite arguments for and against
testing students made during a public forum Monday. "The next step is
for the board to discuss the policy and vote when they're ready,"
Superintendent Bill Spaeth said.

He said school board members will discuss the proposed policy during
their 6:30 p.m. meeting Monday at the school administration building,
600 Maple Ave. If the policy is approved, Spaeth said, the staff will
review it, and testing could begin in October.

School officials went over the proposed policy and testing procedures
with parents during the meeting.

Parent Kevin Warren told board members he thinks mandatory drug
testing is wrong and infringes on the rights of his children. He said
the policy would make the children "guilty until proven innocent."

"We teach our children that we trust them and they have rights," he
said. "But this policy tells them that adults and the school system
have no faith in them."

Warren said the policy "undermines parental authority," and he "will
not support these Gestapo-like practices."

Division over the proposed policy was in evidence throughout the
meeting.

Ron Acklin told board members he wished the policy had been in place a
long time ago. His son, Shaun Acklin, 15, died of a methadone overdose
May 28.

"We weren't bad parents," he said. "We monitored our
children.

"There are two things that I have that you don't want -- an autopsy
report and a death certificate with your child's name on it.

"I can't understand why anyone would be opposed to it (drug
testing)."

Students were equally divided.

"I resent being tested because I've abstained from all of the harmful
activities," Yukon High School senior Beth Doggett said.

However, she said half the students at football games are "under the
influence," and they are in the stands, not out on the field.

A main complaint of those against the policy is that it targets the
wrong group of students.

But another student, sophomore Tyler Deckard, said he knows football
players who use drugs, and he believes the policy will be a good
deterrent for students.

Although several school board members said they are "torn" over the
issue of testing, they agree something must be done.

"We want to prevent another Shaun Acklin situation from happening,"
board member Mitzi Mattox said Tuesday. "Unfortunately, after what
happened last spring, what we've been doing isn't enough."

Mattox said the policy is not meant to be punitive, but to serve as a
tool to help parents and students.

"For me, it (drug testing) is worth trying out and seeing if it
works," board President Anton Yanda said. "We've got to try something.
We need to deter kids from trying drugs."

Casey Worthen, the school district's student assistance program
director, said some officials are concerned parents may not allow
their children to participate in extracurricular activities because
they disagree with the proposed policy.

"It does bother me that parents may pull their children out of school
activities," she said Tuesday. "I wish we didn't have a problem with
our children using drugs."