MURRAY SCHOOLS MAY START RANDOM DRUG TESTING

CHATSWORTH - The Murray County Board of Education is scheduled to
vote Monday on a policy to randomly give drug tests to students
participating in extracurricular activities in county schools.

The board's monthly meeting will be at 7 p.m. at Chatsworth Elementary
School.

The proposed policy had previously been written to only include
athletes, but board members thought that was not fair and wanted to
wait to vote until all students involved in extracurricular activities
could be added.

"We hope to prevent the use of drugs," said superintendent Charlotte
Pipkin. "High school students are very vulnerable to peer pressure. We
believe those in extracurricular activities are role models, and we
want them to understand their responsibility."

If the policy is approved, any student participating in
extracurricular activities could be randomly selected for a drug test,
said Dean Donehoo, director of administrative services.

Five to 10 students will be chosen at a time about every six weeks,
costing $27.50 apiece, Donehoo said.

If a student tests positive one time, the student will be suspended
from four consecutive events - games, meets, concerts, etc. - but will
still participate in practices, Pipkin said.

The student also will have to attend a conference with the coach and
principal of the school, be evaluated for chemical dependency and must
be retested before being allowed to participate again, Pipkin said.

If a student tests positive a second time, the student will be
suspended for nine consecutive events, must participate in the Beyond
and More program at the high school and must be retested, Pipkin said.
A positive retest will be considered a third violation.

If a student tests positive a third time, the student will be excluded
from "any and all participation" in extracurricular activities
throughout the rest of his or her Murray County school career, Pipkin
said.

The test results will not be recorded on the student's permanent
record and will not be given to law enforcement, Pipkin said. The
record will be destroyed a year after the student graduates or after
turning 18, she said.

The policy also allows for appeal if a test comes back positive.

A student or a parent or legal guardian can contest the test results
to the principal within 72 hours of being notified of the results,
Pipkin said. The principal can require a doctor's written
documentation to be presented, she said. A student can be retested,
but it would be done at the student's expense.

The principal will make the final decision, Pipkin said.

Also scheduled to be voted on at the meeting are student handbooks.
Some board members admitted to not reading last year's handbooks
before voting on them. That caused controversy in May over whether
high school students would be allowed to walk across the stage at
graduation even if they did not pass the state required graduation
test.

The handbook said those students were not to be allowed to walk, but
board members voted 3-2 to allow them to after saying they did not
realize that policy was in the handbook.