TOWANDA SCHOOL DISTRICT MAY ADOPT VOLUNTARY DRUG TESTS

TOWANDA -- The Towanda Area School District has begun evaluating
whether to implement a voluntary drug-testing program that rewards
students for testing drug-free.

Towanda High School Principal Steven Gobble confirmed that he is in
the beginning stages of evaluating whether the school district should
adopt a program used in Autauga County, Alabama, called the
Independent Decision Program.

Students participate in the Independent Decision Program on a
voluntary basis, and also need their parents' permission to
participate, Gobble said. Students in the program agree to not use
drugs, alcohol or tobacco, according to information about the program
that was supplied by Gobble.

Students who participate in the program are issued an ID card if they
test drug-free, which entitles them to receive discounts at
participating businesses and at certain social events.

Students in the program are subject to random drug tests, and could
have their ID card revoked if they test positive for nicotine, drugs
or alcohol.

"It is important to emphasize that the purpose of the program is to
reward positive, healthy behaviors," according to a written statement
provided by the Independent Decision Program. "Testing of drugs in the
Independent Decision Program is in no way an investigative tool of a
law enforcement agency. Positive (testing) results will not result in
criminal prosecution."

All information about a student is kept confidential, according to the
Independent Decision Program.

However, if a student tests positive for drugs, the Autauga program
does contact him and his parents, with the goal of providing
information to them about local drug prevention and drug treatment
programs.

If the program is implemented in the Towanda Area School District, it
would not be used by the school district as a tool to enforce
discipline, Gobble said.

Drug-testing programs similar to the Independent Decision Program
exist at other school districts, too, Gobble said.

Gobble said he learned about the Independent Decision Program from the
CommUNITY Against Methamphetamine, which is a community-based task
force aimed at stopping methamphetamine use in Bradford County.

Gobble said he would need to get approval from the Towanda Area School
Board before the program can be implemented locally.

The school district would need to apply for grant funds in order to
pay for the drug testing, Gobble said.

Gobble said he would look for grant funding for the program "from all
kinds of sources, other than the school district itself."

Gobble said the program might initially be implemented in the seventh
grade at Towanda Junior/Senior High School and later expanded to other
grades at the school.

The target date for starting the program in the Towanda Area School
District would be the 2005-06 school year, Gobble said.

Gobble said he has also supplied information about the Independent
Decision Program to officials from other school districts in Bradford
County, in case they may want to adopt the program, too.