STUDENTS LINE UP FOR DRUG TESTING

Students at Broken Arrow and Union public schools are standing in line
to be tested for drugs -- gladly and by their own choice. They are
members of Drug-Free Youth organizations, which provide students
incentives to be drug-free and their parents the guidance to help keep
their children off drugs.

One evening each semester, students in grades seven through 12 and
their parents "pack in the school and line up out the door" to sign
drug-free pledge cards and submit to urine testing, Broken Arrow
spokesman Keith Isbell said.

The cards allow students to receive discounts at school-sponsored
athletic events, he said.

The program is relatively new at Broken Arrow, but it has been at
Union for about eight years.

"The parents and the students sign a contract ... to remain drug-free.
That gives us permission to drug-test their kids," Union student
programs coordinator Danny Williams said.

An $11 fee covers the first drug test. Students agree to submit to
random tests year-round, with the district incurring the costs for
additional tests. Students who test positive are not punished by
school officials. Instead, they agree to undergo counseling, Williams
said.

Williams said he has helped officials at Tahlequah, Sand Springs,
Glenpool and Berryhill school districts start similar programs.

Isbell said the Broken Arrow program conducts meetings and fun events
throughout the school year.

"It's kind of treated like a student activity club," he said.

About 300 students participated in Broken Arrow's Drug-Free Youth last
year, he said.