PHS DRUG SCREENING NETS 3 POSITIVES OF 85 TESTED

PLYMOUTH -- Principal Dick Tobias on Thursday gave members of the board of
school trustees their first report regarding the progress of the high
school drug testing program.

Results have been encouraging, Tobias said.

Of the 85 students tested this year, one tested positive for nicotine and
two tested positive for other drugs. All three were student athletes.

Students in athletics and extra-curricular activities and student drivers
are subject to random drug tests. Each eligible student is assigned a
number. A corresponding list of students and numbers is maintained at the
high school.

Each week a representative at Holm Clinic, which conducts the tests at the
high school, randomly selects 15 numbers. Students who correspond with
those numbers must be tested.

There are 750 students out of 972 at the high school eligible for the drug
testing pool.

If a student tests positive, another test is taken for confirmation. If the
second test is positive, the student's parents or guardians will be
notified. Students will also be suspended from participating in his or her
activity for at least 20 percent of remaining events. Student drivers who
test positive for drugs will have their privilege of driving to school
suspended for 30 days. There is no consequence for student drivers who test
positive for nicotine.

Students subject to punishment will be barred from attending school
functions for 30 days.

A second offense will result in suspension of attending school functions,
participating in sports or other extracurricular activities or driving to
school for 12 consecutive months.

A third offense will result in suspension of the above mentioned for the
remainder of the student's enrollment at Plymouth.

A student who acknowledges a drug or alcohol problem and seeks help before
he or she is found in violation of the code will not be penalized by school
personnel. Tobias said this provision is applicable only once. In such a
case, the student and his or her parents will be referred to an agency for
assistance.

The school board voted unanimously to reinstate a revised drug testing
policy in July 2002. For three years in the late 1990s, high school
officials conducted random drug tests of students who participated in
athletics or extracurricular activities or drove to school.

The testing program was suspended in August 2000, after the Indiana Court
of Appeals ruled drug testing in another school corporation unconstitutional.

In July of last year, both the Indiana and U.S. Supreme Courts ruled that
random drug testing of students is acceptable in certain circumstances.

It costs $30 for each test, which can identify up to nine different drugs
in a person's system. Tobias said the tests are paid with grants from
Marshall County Drug Free and Drug Free America.