W R V DRUG TESTING OFF TO A GOOD START

SWITZ CITY -- Only one of five Greene County school districts are now
randomly testing a number of its students for drugs and alcohol and
the administrator in charge of the program believes it is an
easy-to-do deterrent that can help curb or control substance abuse at
his school.

White River Valley School District, based in Switz City, started its
random drug-testing program in September and principal Roger Weaver
reports better-than-expected results.

Weaver admits that when the idea of testing students for drugs and
alcohol became a common practice across the country about a decade
ago, he was skeptical. He's changed his mind and now is a staunch supporter.

The idea of drug/alcohol testing originated in the workplace, but
Weaver believes it serves a valuable roll in the schools.

"Our rationale for doing it is, at the school one of our missions is
for the well-being of our students, their safety, their health and
their future," Weaver said. "The thing I like about it, if someone
(one of the students) is tempted to do it or they get some peer
pressure this a tool that might be a deterrent."

Weaver said while there is a school policy against the use of illegal
drugs and alcohol the goal of the testing program carries minimal
punitive punishment. Instead, the goal is to educate and secure
treatment help for the abusing student.

"I feel like it can help," he said. "It is not punitive. It is meant
to number one to educate students and hopefully you never have any
positive tests, but if you do, then the next step is to show them and
get them some help."

Because of its controversial nature, to be successful, the program has
to have the support of the school board, administration and teaching
staff, Weaver stated. "Courts have pretty well went along with it. We
had our school attorney (Greene County Prosecutor David Powell) look
at the policy," he said.

Not all students are tested.

The random test group includes any student who drives a vehicle to
school, students involved in extracurricular activities,
student-athletes, students whose parents have requested school
officials to include them in the group or any student under
"reasonable suspicion" of using either alcohol or illegal drugs,
according to Weaver.

A test refusal is regarded the same as a positive test.

An outside contractor, Indiana Testing, Inc. of Indianapolis conducts
the testing once a month.

The principal said the contracted lab does the selection of each
month's test pool confidentially with the help of a computer.

The pool of eligible students are each assigned a number and monthly
approximately 10 numbers are selected at random by computer and those
students are tested at the school. A urine specimen is drawn at a
private location in the school at a date and time not announced to the
students in advance, Weaver explained. Beside the random tests, the
school also does "reasonable suspicion" test on students who are
believed to be using alcohol or drugs.

"This would apply to anybody," he said.

The school uses an assessment sheet that is given to teachers which
identifies some general characteristics or traits of a student who
might be using.

Weaver said if "reasonable suspicion" is established the parents or
guardian is contacted to notify them that school will conduct a
drug/alcohol screen. "We don't have to have their permission, but in
our policy it says they will be informed," he said.

In addition, the high school principal said already this year several
parents have requested their son or daughter be voluntarily tested as
part of the regular monthly drug screening process.

At WRV, nine classes of drugs along with alcohol are screened --
including amphetamines, barbiturates, benzodiazepine, cannabinoids,
cocaine, methadone, opiates, phencyclidine and propoxophene. This
includes common abused or street drugs like marijuana,
methamphetamine, Valium, speed, heroin, and PCP. The school pays a $29
fee to the contracted lab firm for each student tested -- which
includes the lab work.

Self-test kits are available from the company that parents can
purchase at the school to test their children at home, if they desire.
Results from the self-test are available almost instantly and do not
have to be processed by a professional lab. Cost of the self-test test
kits are also $29 each

Weaver said he believes the testing will at least get the students to
think before they use either drugs or alcohol and in his view it's
been well received by the students who have been tested.

"I think it's a good success story," Weaver said. "I feel pretty good
about the whole thing. It's exceeded my expectations really. Some
people are against it for general principles, but I think it's been a
good thing."

"I tell the students at the start of the year, 'you might look at it
(the testing) as a negative, but the purpose of it is to help youa or
it wouldn't be done'," Weaver said. "With the meth problem we have
here, we are probably not going to win that war, but it's just a tool
to help. I see it as another tool or a deterrent to hopefully give
people a reason to stay away from it."