DIVISION WORKING ON DRUG TESTING PLAN FOR ATHLETES

A Random Drug Testing Program For Student Athletes Is In The Works For
Garden Valley Collegiate.

Garden Valley School Division superintendent Dom Wilkins says the proposed
new policy of informed random drug testing of high school athletic team
members is proactive and is intended to give students one more reason to
say no to drugs.

"It's a policy that's being worked on jointly by the school, the advisory
council, the division and senior students," said Wilkins. "The policy is in
draft form right now. It was approved in principle by the school board at
their last meeting, to be implemented as a pilot project for this school
year. It will be evaluated throughout the year and a final decision on
implementation and any modifications will be made at the end of the school
year."

Wilkins indicated the written document has been sent to legal counsel for
review.

"They've assured us verbally that we were okay on this, but we want them to
see the written document," he said.

Why single out athletes for these random drug tests?

Jurisprudence indicates the policy cannot be imposed on the whole student
body, says Wilkins, but specific groups within the student body can be
targetted.

"The United States Supreme Court, last spring, went on record as supporting
random drug testing for high school athletes," said Garden Valley
Collegiate principal Karl Redekop. "The rationale is that education is a
right. You can't exclude students from something that is their right, but
participation in extra-curricular activities like sports is a privilege.

"And student athletes tend often to be leaders in the school, so if you
have about 250 student athletes setting a positive example, you hope the
rest of the students will follow that example." It's also a matter of
safety, says Redekop.

"If your judgment is impaired, or your sense of pain dulled, you can be a
danger to yourself or to others on the rink or the court," he said.

"We're not out to exclude anyone," he added. "We're here to support our
students. So if having such a policy in place can support students in
making the right lifestyle choices, then that's a good thing."

According to the policy-in-the-making, student athletes and their parents
will be required to sign forms consenting to informed random drug tests
throughout the year. And it will be a requirement for participation on the
school's athletic teams, he says. "We will be having an independent company
do the testing," said Redekop. "(The company) runs these kinds of programs
for international trucking companies and airlines. They generate random
picks, with the actual samples being done at the clinic. It will be about
as unbiased and anonymous as it can be."

Reasonable suspicion

The other piece to the drug testing policy is that if coaches see serious
indicators that an athlete is using drugs or alcohol, they can, under the
'reasonable suspicion' clause, have that student tested and dealt with.

One of the concerns, Redekop says, has been with regard to the fact
students already participating on a sports team may be fingered in these
drug tests and bumped off the team.

Ample prior notification

However, Redekop says the program will not be implemented at the collegiate
without ample prior notification and meetings held together with students
and their parents to explain the policy.

"Then, if there's someone on a team using a controlled substance - drugs or
alcohol - they can meet privately with the coach and come clean about what
they're doing," said Redekop.

The student will need to be willing to go for counselling, and must be
willing to commit to staying drug-free in the future to retain a position
on the team.

"At that point, if the student is then tested later on, we're looking for
traces (of drugs) in decreasing levels (to indicate they've stopped
using)," said Redekop.

Redekop says general student reaction to the proposed policy is mixed.

"Some of the students are saying this is good, some are saying it's not
fair, that we're picking on athletes," he said.