ANADARKO SCHOOLS MAY BEGIN DRUG TESTING

ANADARKO -- Drug testing may become mandatory for Anadarko students
involved in extracurricular activities this school year. The Anadarko
School Board recently discussed the issue during a regular meeting,
reviewing a tentative policy that would randomly test students from
the seventh through 12th grades. Students who refuse to submit to the
test would not be allowed to participate in their respective sport or
activity for the entire school year.

"Since all this came up at the meeting, I have not received one call
on this matter," said Tom Cantrell, Anadarko Public Schools
superintendent. "Not one."

Cantrell and the district's board members plan to hold a community
meeting on the issue to hear comments from students, teachers and parents.

No date has been set for the meeting. But should a drug-testing
policy be adopted, Cantrell said, it would not go into effect until
the second semester of the upcoming school year.

Cantrell estimated the testing could involve as many as 450
students.

"We're not doing this because we have a drug problem," Cantrell said.
"That's not the case at all. We're doing this because we want to give
kids a reason to say 'no' to drugs should someone ever approach them."

Anadarko would not be the first Oklahoma school district to require
drug testing.

The Tecumseh School District in Pottawatomie County has been testing
students on and off for the past five years while battling the issue
in the courts.

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the policy last year despite the
challenges of a student who claimed the tests were an infringement of
civil liberties.

The American Civil Liberties Union aided the student's
challenge.

"We really haven't seen any negatives to the testing," said Tom
Wilsie, Tecumseh's superintendent. "We've seen nothing but positives.
In fact, we've received calls from different districts all over the
state about our policies."

Cantrell said Anadarko administrators may adopt policies similar to
Tecumseh's.

Under the Tecumseh plan, students who fail a test undergo counseling
for a month and then submit to a second test. A student who fails a
test twice is suspended from any extracurricular sport or activity for
two weeks.

A third failure of the test results in a one-semester
ban.

If there is a downside to drug testing, Cantrell said, it might be the
overall costs. Anadarko bus drivers submit to mandatory drug tests
that cost $22.50 per test.

Wilsie said Tecumseh has spent as much as $3,000 in one school year
for random testing.

Cantrell said: "We would have the cost, but I think the positives far
outweigh the negatives. Kids who participate in extracurricular
activities are looked up to by other students, especially those who
are good athletes.

"They are role models, and I think it's important for them to set a
good example for others to follow."