DIMMITT REINSTATES DRUG POLICY

DIMMITT -- Dimmitt Independent School District reinstated its random
drug-testing policy last week, with some revisions, said Les Miller,
Dimmitt ISD superintendent.

All seventh-through 12th-grade students in extracurricular activities will
be tested on Nov. 4, 5 and 6, and the school will test students randomly
throughout the year, Miller said.

"(Now) we're really trying to emphasize the counseling portion of it,"
Miller said. "We're trying not to make it punitive as such, but more of a
deterrent policy."

The school district had suspended the policy in April 2001 while it waited
for rulings in pending lawsuits challenging the legality of such programs.
A Supreme Court ruling in June affirmed schools' right to test students in
extracurricular activities.

Dimmitt's revised policy dictates that parents are now required to attend
outside counseling sessions with their children who test positive, Miller said.

"We're trying to work that up how that is going to be completed," he said.

Students also will be tested for nicotine in addition to alcohol and
narcotics, Miller said. Those who test positive for nicotine will not be
subject to district punishment, he said.

"We're turning that (the results) over to parents, coaches and sponsors,"
he said. "The coaches and sponsors will deal with it within their activities."

Students who test positive once will have to go through counseling and also
be subject to mandatory testing throughout the year, Miller said.

The second positive test will result in a 60-day suspension from activities
in addition to the counseling, he said.

If a student tests positive three or more times, that student cannot
participate in activities for year from the date he tests positive, Miller
said.

"It goes back to whatever we can give the kids a way to say no," Miller
said. "(The policy) is another tool for them to say no."

Miller said at the time the district suspended the policy that he was
confident the district would restore it. The Supreme Court ruling cleared
the way for Dimmitt as well as other districts to create or resume
drug-testing policies.

"You can't (drug-test) everybody," he said. "Everyone is entitled to a free
appropriate education. You are not entitled to the extracurricular
activities. That's a privilege, not a right."