KENNEDALE DISTRICT ADOPTS RANDOM DRUG TEST POLICY

KENNEDALE -- More than 1,100 Kennedale students who take part in
extracurricular activities or park on campus face random drug testing
when the new school year begins in August.

High school and junior high school students who test positive for
illegal drugs or alcohol can be suspended from extracurricular
activities for two weeks to a year, but will not be suspended from
classes.

They will also perform 10 to 60 hours of community service and will
lose parking and off-campus privileges if they drive to school.

Other area school districts that randomly screen for illegal drug and
alcohol use include Azle, Grapevine-Colleyville, Eagle
Mountain-Saginaw, White Settlement and Burleson. Also starting in
2007-08, Texas' public high school athletes face mandatory random
steroid testing.

In Kennedale, school and police officials said they have not noticed
an increase in drug use or possession at schools but want to take the
initiative. The school board voted unanimously to adopt the policy
June 21.

"Our desire is not to punish kids -- it's to help them," said school
board Vice President Joe Taylor. "It gives students another
opportunity to say no. He can say, 'Hey, I can't touch that stuff
because I'm in the program.'"

Kennedale trustees said they added student drivers to the testing pool
because of the dangers of drinking and driving.

"If you allow students to leave campus and come back, I think there is
a certain amount of liability they're trying to eliminate there," said
Kennedale Police Chief Tommy Williams.

The policy also allows students to volunteer for random testing. The
district has about 3,000 students.

"Any school district that doesn't think drugs are around is turning a
blind eye to the problems of society," Associate Superintendent Rick
Edwards said. "Our job is to educate children and help them see this
is damaging to them in the long term."

Kim Wehr, who has two children in the district, said that she was
unaware of the new policy and that the district should have done more
to let parents know about it in advance. But she said the policy
sounds reasonable.

"I understand where they're coming from," said Wehr, whose children
are in junior high and high school band. "They're trying to keep the
schools as clean and safe as possible."

The board last considered drug testing in 2001 but voted 4-3 against
it because of costs and uncertainty about legal footing. But in 2002,
the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a program in Oklahoma that tested
students involved in all extracurricular activities. The ruling
broadened the scope of a school board's authority to test students.

The school board approved a preliminary budget of $24.85 million for
the 2007-08 school year, a 7 percent increase from 2006-07. Trustees
are considering a 6 percent pay raise for teachers and other
employees. A final budget and tax rate will be adopted in August.