EDGECOMBE BOARD APPROVES DRUG TESTING

PRINCEVILLE - Student athletes in Edgecombe County now have
another reason to stay clean and sober, thanks to a new policy
approved by the Board of Education on Monday to randomly test students
for drugs as a condition for sports participation.

The board unanimously approved the policy at its monthly meeting at
Princeville Montessori School and quickly moved on to other issues.
Board members had been in favor of the policy since it was first
introduced to the board in August.

"I'm for it because it's giving another reason for kids to keep away
from drugs," board member Keith Pittman said Monday. He even suggested
taking the policy beyond just athletes and requiring all students
planning to participate in any extracurricular activity to be tested
for drugs.

The policy was revised during several policy committee meetings in
past months. Board vice chairwoman Ann Kent, who heads the policy
committee, said the policy falls directly in line with the school
system's pre-existing drug testing policy for school bus drivers.

Drug testing will only apply to middle and high school students, the
policy states. It also states that cheerleading squads are subject to
drug testing as well as other junior varsity and varsity teams, such
as basketball, wrestling and football.

Each student going out for any sports team and his or her parent must
sign a written consent form before the season begins, the policy
reads. The principal can determine who should be tested.

A minimum of one random drug test shall be conducted for each sport in
any school electing a drug test, the policy states. The principal may
order additional random tests to ensure that testing is always a
possibility.

Students who fail the test, which involves taking urine samples, would
be forbidden from participating in all interscholastic athletics for
the remainder of the current season. If the student fails a second
time, he or she would not be eligible for any sport for a 12-month
period. After that period, the student must be tested again and can
participate if the test is negative.

After a third positive result, the student would be banned from sports
for 24 months and must be tested again. Police intervention is not
included in the policy.

The policy will go into effect Jan. 1, 2004, said Superintendent Dr.
Steve Stone.

The board on Monday also gave school administrators permission to
request a class size exception waiver for Roberson Elementary School.
Its only fifth-grade class, with 31 students, has exceeded the
29-student capacity required by state law, and officials said the
school system has no choice but to try to waive the class size limit.

"If we can't get the waiver, we must form a combination class with
another grade," Stone said.

The waiver request was approved unanimously. Administrators now must
submit a detailed application, which explains the school's need to
maintain the oversized class, in order to obtain a waiver from the
N.C. Department of Public Instruction.

In addition, the board approved spending up to $115,000 on a new floor
in the SouthWest Edgecombe High School gymnasium. The floor incurred
extensive water damage due to a roof leak caused by Hurricane Isabel
on Sept. 18, and Stone said the only way to fix the problem is to
replace the entire floor.

"The only big thing that happened to our schools during Hurricane
Isabel was the gym floor at SouthWest Edgecombe," he said. "It is
absolutely essential that we replace the floor."

Contractors will make the necessary renovations before basketball
season begins in mid-November, he said.