OTHER DISTRICTS WON'T FOLLOW N-Y'S LEAD ON DRUG TESTING

Nearly 100 high school and junior high students in Nelsonville-York
District were tested last week for drugs, alcohol and tobacco, and more
will be tested throughout the school year.

But while school officials in Nelsonville are pleased with their new drug
testing program, and are considering expanding it to include more students,
there are no plans to do any drug testing in either the Alexander or Athens
school districts.

Carl Martin, superintendent of the Athens City School District, said last
week that the school does not do any drug testing of students and the
school board has not even discussed the issue.

Bob Bray, superintendent of the Alexander Local School District, said his
district also does not do any drug testing of students. There was some
discussion of drug testing a year ago, but it has not been a topic before
the board of education recently and it is not anything the board is
scheduled to discuss, Bray said.

When asked if he was for or against drug testing of students, Bray said
that decision should be made by the leaders in each school district.

"We haven't talked about it recently, so I really don't have a feel for
it," Bray said.

One person who does have a good understanding of the issue is Mick
McClelland, principal at Nelsonvile-York High School. On Friday, McClelland
discussed why the district started drug testing, how it will likely be
expanded soon, how the program works and what the reaction has been to the
it so far.

Nelsonville-York officials had been discussing a drug testing program when
McClelland heard about the program already in place at Olentangy High
School in Columbus.

After Nelsonville-York officials visited the high school and learned more
about the program, they decided to hire the same company to begin testing
the Nelsonville-York students for drugs, alcohol and tobacco.

"The board recognized that we have a problem," McClelland said, adding that
most schools in the region and in Ohio have the same problem. The drug
testing program, he said, is a deterrent that officials hope will cut down
on the drug, alcohol and tobacco problems at Nelsonville-York.

CURRENTLY, ONLY THE STUDENTS in sports and cheerleading in the highs school
and junior high are being tested. That may change soon, though, as
McClelland said the board is discussing adding students in band and choir
to the list of those being tested.

Eventually, the district may add all students who are in extra-curricular
activities and any students who represent the district outside of the
school, including those students on field trips, McClelland said. Nothing
has been decided on adding any other students to those being tested,
though, and for now the only ones being tested are the athletes and
cheerleaders, McClelland said.

Ideally, McClelland would like to see all of the students in the high
school and junior high be tested for drugs, alcohol and tobacco products
(including chewing tobacco), but he is satisfied with just testing the
athletes and cheerleaders for now.

Last week was the mandatory drug testing session for high school and junior
high athletes involved in fall sports. Nearly 100 students were tested, and
that did not include the high school cheerleaders, who were out of the area
at camp. The drug testing has many fail-safe measures built into it so the
company cannot accidentally switch samples, the students cannot bring in
false samples and so that the tests go smoothly, McClelland said.

In addition to the mandatory testing at the beginning of the fall, winter
and spring sports seasons, there will also be random testing throughout the
school year, McClelland said. A computer randomly selects 10 students on
random days throughout the year to be tested (school officials have no part
in who is chosen) and those students are tested during their lunch hours,
McClelland said.

The first time a student is found to have drugs, alcohol or tobacco in his
or her system, that student is assigned counseling and the parents are
notified.

After the second time, a students is held out of athletics for four weeks.
After the third time, a student is held out of athletics for one year.
After the fourth time, a student is suspended from athletics indefinitely.

For items like marijuana that stay in a person's body for an extended
period of time, if someone is tested positive once, and then tested
positive a second time, school officials will look to see if the amount of
marijuana in the person's body has decreased. If it is going down and the
tests indicate the student has not used marijuana since the previous
testing, that positive will not be a second offense.

Alcohol generally stays in a person's system for just 24 hours, so it may
be tough to find students with alcohol in their system, McClelland said.
But the testing company does testing on Saturdays and Sundays as well as
during the week, so some random testing may be done throughout the school
year over the weekends, which would generally be the time to test students
to see if they are using alcohol, McClelland said.

Law enforcement officials are not notified if drugs, alcohol or tobacco are
found in someone's system, McClelland said. If drugs or alcohol are found
in the school, law enforcement officials are notified, he added. The drug
testing, though, is not set up as a way to catch people using drugs,
alcohol or tobacco, it is set up to encourage them not to use these items.

"We see it as a deterrent," McClelland said.

STUDENTS IN THE high school and junior high are abusing alcohol, marijuana,
cigarettes and other drugs, just like they are at schools around the
country, McClelland said. He is hoping that students will think twice about
it now before they start, knowing that it could cost them eligibility in
their sports.

Some critics have pointed out that the drug testing program could keep
students away from sports, McClelland said. He said, though, that the 20
junior high students and nearly 80 high school students (out of 360 totally
in the high school) tested already is proof that students are still going
to be involved in sports.

Other critics have argued that drug testing programs such as this one are
an invasion of individual rights.

McClelland doesn't see it that way, though. First of all, if the students
don't want to be tested, they don't have to take part in sports, or other
activities if the testing is expanded, McClelland said,

Second, high school and junior high students don't have the right to smoke,
drink or do drugs, he said. Those are all illegal to them, so they
shouldn't have those items in their system, McClelland said.

Finally, if students are impaired by drugs or alcohol while they are
playing or practicing, they are infringing on the rights of other students
who want to play, and they may be jeopardizing the safety of others,
McClelland said.

So far, the reaction to the drug testing has been positive, McClelland
said. School officials did their best to inform students and parents about
the program before it was put into place, and most of the parents he has
heard from support it. Some who don't have students in sports want to have
their children tested too, McClelland said. He added that the school
district will assist parents who want to have their students tested.

Although he has high hopes for the program, the school district won't know
for a few years if the drug testing is successful or not, McClelland said.

He expects to get the results of the mandatory testing back this week. Over
the next few years, he will compare results of the mandatory and random
testing, and if the program is successful, the number of students tested
positive will do down in the coming years. For now, McClelland isn't sure
what to expect with the results. He is just hoping that the testing works
as a deterrent for students and gives them another reason to stay away from
drugs, alcohol and tobacco.