HARTSELLE SENDING WRONG MESSAGE ABOUT DRUGS

Hartselle would like to have the innocence of Mayberry U.S.A., but there is
no imaginary, invincible wall around the city to keep it more morally fit
than Decatur and other cities.

Thus, some people simply don't want to admit the possibility of a drug
problem in schools there. As a result, rumors run wild about who's using
drugs and how pervasive that use might be.

School Superintendent Lee Hartsell had the opportunity last week to dispel
some of the rumors by releasing the first results of the system's
drug-testing program.

He at first said he'd have to get legal advice on releasing them. Given
legal approval, he delayed again, saying he wanted school board members to
get the report before he releases the numbers to the press for public
consumption.

That follows a pattern in which the superintendent stumbled badly when he
denied initially in March that two baseball players tested positive for
marijuana. Mayor Clif Knight and the City Council met publicly with the
superintendent and school board. They wanted to know why Hartsell misled
the public with his comments in the newspaper and why officials took no
action against the students.

Hartsell said the school system did not take any action because the board
could not prove that the drug use happened on school property or at a
school function. This is when the council recommended that the school
system adopt a drug-testing policy, which the superintendent seemed to oppose.

The secrecy and delay in making the first test results available only add
to the criticism that Hartselle isn't being absolutely candid about the
problem.

Other school systems, without fanfare, release results upon request.

Hartselle is a great community. Its schools have a reputation for being
among the best in the state. The school system is, however, tarnishing its
reputation with how slow officials react to what may or may not be a drug
problem.