AUBURN OKS DRUG-TESTING POLICY

By passing the voluntary drug-testing policy, the Auburn City Board of
Education is sending a clear message about the use of drugs and
alcohol in grades 6 to 12.

Terry Jenkins, superintendent of Auburn City Schools, said the message
should be clear.

"We are saying to them (parents) very clearly that we are going to put
in place procedures so that we try to keep drugs, alcohol and those
kinds of things away from our campus as much as we possibly can.

"Realizing we can't control things that happen outside the schools,
but what we can control is what happens on our schools' campuses and
try to provide a safe atmosphere for our children."

Jenkins said parents have had differing views about the policy.

"We have some parents who feel very strongly that this interferes with
the rights of their children," he said. "We have some other parents
who are strongly supportive because they don't want their children to
be subjected to some of the conversations and some of the activities
that are associated with this.

"So we went from looking at a mandatory policy to a voluntary program
because it certainly is not a situation where we want to invade the
privacy of any individual. But what we also want to do is send a clear
message that this is unacceptable on our school grounds. We have a
responsibility to provide a safe learning atmosphere."

One of the parents' concerns has been the protection of their
children's identity. Jenifer Herring, the system's safe and drug-free
school coordinator, said their main goal is to maintain
confidentiality.

"The parents' main concern is keeping their children's identity
confidential," Herring said. "This is our main concern too."

The board was presented with the procedure to implement this drug-free
policy which will be considered in their June meeting.