SURRY SHELVES DRUG TESTING

School Board Worries About Rights and Costs

The Surry County school board has put on hold its discussion of a possible
drug-testing program for student athletes and others involved in
extracurricular activities.

School officials say that the likelihood of such a program acting as a
deterrent does not outweigh the risk that students' rights could be violated.

"I'm not sure it's our mission," said Billy Sawyers, an assistant
superintendent, at a board meeting Monday night.

Board member Bobby Hanes said he felt uncomfortable targeting a specific
group of students and said that the cost of the program, which had been
estimated to be as much as $8,000 a year, was too great.

"We should spend the money on something else," Hanes said. "I don't think
the people that we would need to target would be in that group anyway."

Since the fall, the Surry school board has been reviewing drug-testing
policies of other school systems. Mount Airy and Elkin schools do not
require drug tests for students who play sports and participate in clubs.

Surry County had looked closely at a program in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth
County Schools, which has required random drug-testing of high-school
athletes and others in extracurricular activities since 1998.

At one time, Surry board members had expressed interest in a drug-testing
program, saying that student athletes are role models in the community and
should be held to a higher standard.

Recently, school officials have begun to feel that the process of
collecting a urine sample from a student at school would intrude on
individuals' rights.

Sawyers, who has been a teacher, coach and parent, said he felt uneasy
about administrators or other school personnel having to accompany students
to collect urine and then ensure the integrity of the specimen.

"It's a violation of a person's rights, to me personally," he said.

Board member Brian Gates said that the policies that Surry County school
system had been considering had been upheld by the courts, which made him
comfortable with pursuing it.

However, the cost of a drug-testing program can not be justified at this
time, he said.