BRET HARTE DRUG TESTS NEARER

Trustees Leave Proposal Untouched After Hearing From Parents, Coaches

ANGELS CAMP -- A drug-testing program for Bret Harte High School student
athletes could be in place in time for the start of the school year next month.

The proposed policy passed an initial round of scrutiny by district
trustees this week and will return for a second reading Aug. 4.

If trustees approve the policy then, it would take effect in August.

Superintendent Joseph Wilimek said parents and coaches expressed support
for the policy at Monday night's meeting, and trustees did not ask to make
any changes.

The policy would test for six families of drugs as well as alcohol. Every
student participating in sports, including cheerleading, would be subject
to testing.

School officials and coaches say drug testing would prevent problems,
because it would give students a reason to say no to drug use when
pressured by peers.

The policy would allow all student athletes to be tested at the beginning
of every sport season and calls for random testing throughout the year.

Students who test positive for amphetamines, barbiturates, benzodiazepines,
cocaine, THC -- the active ingredient in marijuana -- opiates or alcohol
would be barred from participating in sports until they enrolled in a
drug-education program overseen by a school counselor.

Those students would be subject to mandatory urinalysis at least every 30
days for as long as school officials deem fit.

As long as offenders enrolled in the drug-education program and stayed drug
free, they could continue participating in athletics.

Once they finished the drug-education program, they would need a doctor's
clearance to continue participating in sports.

A second positive test would make students ineligible for the rest of their
respective sports season and 10 practice days into their next sports
season. Subsequent positive tests would trigger stiffer consequences.

Bret Harte would become the first Mother Lode League district to adopt a
drug-testing policy if trustees approve it next month. Only a handful of
schools in the entire Sac-Joaquin Section have such policies.