FEW COUNTIES TO FOLLOW CALHOUN DRUG POLICY

Few neighboring counties plan to follow the Calhoun County School
District's lead in adopting a random drug testing policy for students
involved in extracurricular activities, administrators said Wednesday.

The Calhoun Board of Education adopted the student drug testing policy
Monday, which allows random testing of any student participating in an
extracurricular activity, such as sports, band or competitive clubs, such
as chess club. Calhoun is only one of three counties in the state that
employs a student drug testing policy. Braxton and Logan counties also have
similar polices.

But despite the new policy, few neighboring school districts say they plan
to follow suit.

Mike Boyd, director of secondary schools for the Wood County School
District, said students are only subject to drug testing if they have been
cited for possession or use of a drug, alcohol or tobacco on school property.

"Our drug policy, which mirrors the state drug policy, we feel is enough,"
he said.

Student athletes and their parents are also asked to sign a drug-free
contract with the district when they try out for a school sports team. If a
student later violated that contract, Boyd said they would be asked to take
a drug test and possibly enroll in a drug rehabilitation program.

Another factor, Boyd said, would be the cost. State officials have
estimated the cost of a single drug test to be between $4 and $5. Calhoun
County Schools administrators have said the district policy will affect
about 140 students.

Boyd said that more than half of Wood County's nearly 14,000 students
participate in extracurricular activities. To randomly test even a fraction
of those students could potentially cost the district thousands of dollars.

"In a smaller district it might make sense, but for a district such as Wood
County... it could be very costly," he said.

Ronald Ray, superintendent of Jackson County Schools, said their are no
plans for his district to institute random drug testing.

"We are not considering it at this point in time," he said. "While you are
going to find that problem in any school district, I don't think the
problems in Jackson county schools warrant that kind of a policy."

Ray also said random testing would likely meet with resistance from parents
and students.

"That pretty major invasion of privacy for the students and I don't think
we have that big of a problem," he said.

Ray said if random drug tests did become necessary, he did not believe the
costs would be prohibitive.

Superintendent Ed Toman said he has so far not seen a need for a student
drug testing policy in Wirt County Schools.

"It hasn't really been discussed. We haven't seen a problem in our county
so far," he said.

Toman said coaches and "community expectations" have so far kept many
students who participate in extracurricular activities away from drugs, and
thus have limited the need for random student testing.

But Superintendent Richard Butler of the Ritchie County School District
said he may consider a drug testing policy in the future depending on how
Calhoun County's policy is received by students, parents and community members.

"We are interested in seeing how it plays out in a county like
Calhoun,which is very similar to our county," he said. "We are kind of
taking a wait-and-see approach."

Butler said he would have to see proof of the policy's worth before
suggesting random drug tests in Ritchie County schools.

"If it proves to be successful and positive and effective (in Calhoun) then
it is something we will certainly consider," he said. "At this point in
time, we are not actively going in that direction."