OHS PREPARES TO TEST FOR ALCOHOL, DRUGS

ONEIDA - Come September, administrators at Oneida High School will
have the ability to administer drug tests to students who show
suspicious behavior.

"Our hope is we don't have to use it," said Oneida City School
District Superintendent Ronald Spadafora.

The saliva-based test is designed so that students take a swab from
their own mouths, which is then processed right at the school.
Spadafora said it takes roughly five minutes for the test to show if
a student's system contains drugs or alcohol. It can then be sent to
a lab for a more accurate analysis.

While Spadafora did not know off-hand the brand or price for the
tests, similar saliva-based tests like Oralert cost an around $10 per kit.

"The majority of the time, the student would admit to it," said Brian
Gallagher, high school principal and the policy's leading writer.
"It's that one student where they don't admit it, where you can't
determine. The drug test would be administered to that individual."

Teachers and administrators are trained to identify drug-related
behavior, either through seminars they take with police enforcement
agencies or agencies that deal with substance abuse, Spadafora said.

Some of the signs, he said, include smells and changes in appearance
and behavior.

If a student tests positive, he or she will be suspended for five
days and must have a superintendent's conference. Should a student
refuse to take the test, it is considered an automatic admission of
guilt and that would also bring a suspension.

"It would be the equivalent of them not taking the test if they're on
the street and get stopped by a police officer," Gallagher said.

Spadafora said that students who are tested have the option of
re-testing, and they can file an appeal with the district.

"All this is really is a tool for us to more accurately identify
students who might be under the influence," he said. "Some kids may
appear to be under the influence when, in fact, they're not, and this
certainly is a way to prove one way or another - at least reasonably
prove - that they are either under the influence or not under the influence."

He said there are two types of swab tests: one that can test for
alcohol, the other for drugs. Drugs that can be detected include
amphetamines, marijuana, opiates, cocaine and PCP.

Fayetteville-Manlius High School Principal James Chupaila was one of
the first in New York state to implement the policy at his school in
2004. Gallagher, who used to work in East Syracuse, wanted to bring
the policy to Oneida and shape it to work with the school district.

Spadafora explained that he had been working with Gallagher for a
couple of years on a way to fit the policy to the Oneida School
District, which included research, sample policies from other school
district that had implemented a similar drug policy and reviews with
the board of education.

The policy was adopted in June.

"The piece that's not in place yet is the procedure," he said. He
explained that the step-by-step process of how to test kids is
something Gallagher plans on discussing with parents and students
before approving.

"We obviously want to roll it out to the community at large," Gallagher said.

He said district parents will be receiving a mailing later this month
that has the policy, so they will have an exact copy. Students will
learn more about the policy at an assembly after school starts.

"I would say the majority of parents are in favor of it," Gallagher
said. "At the end of the day, it's about providing safety and
security for our students and I think parents see that."

He added that he isn't worried about certain students being picked out.

"Any student that enters Oneida High School, I think if you talk to
any of them, they know they're treated the same as any other
student," he said. "They're given a fair treatment."

"The bottom line is, once people know it's available and we have the
ability to test, that alone ends up being a deterrent" to drug and
alcohol use," Spadafora said.

He stressed that the policy will accomplish two goals within the
district: to address the issue of drugs in the school and follow
through with the consequences involved, but also to help students who
have a problem get the help they need.

"The reason we put it in place is because of the increased
availability of drugs, not just in Oneida, but everywhere," he said.
"Our goal is to keep as much of it out of school as possible - to
eliminate it completely."

"We just want to provide a safe learning environment for kids,"
Gallagher added.