DRUG CONCERNS

A local parent is hoping for better communication with the district -
as well as increased dissemination of information of what occurs on
different campuses.

"I want to know what's going on at the schools, and if we have a
problem, we need to know," said Jimmy Phillips of Waxahachie.

Phillips, whose son will attend Turner Middle School next year, said
he became concerned after hearing something about a recent drug bust
on that campus.

Waxahachie Police Department reports indicate officers were called to
Turner Middle School at 3:45 p.m. March 30 after two students were
discovered to be in possession of usable amounts of marijuana.

Both students were detained by police and then released to their
parents. Their cases have been forwarded to the Ellis County and
District Attorney's Office and Ellis County Juvenile Services on an
allegation of misdemeanor marijuana possession.

Also of concern to Phillips is what he describes as a lack of response
by the campus' administration when he called to ask about what had
happened. He said he asked for just basic information - and never
received a call back.

"I didn't want to know the names or any specifics. I wanted to know
what was going to be done," he said, saying he felt some notification
should have been sent home to parents.

Phillips has since spoken with Assistant Superintendent David
Truitt.

"I want to know what we are doing to stop drugs in our schools,"
Phillips said, saying the grade level of the two students involved got
his attention."My son is fixing to be 11 (years old), and if we have a
problem with 11- or 12-year-old students doing drugs at that school,
we need to address the problem as a community."

Phillips said he has become more concerned about drug abuse issues
after seeing what some friends went through after their child became
addicted.

"We're always talking about how to keep kids off of drugs and how to
keep them out of trouble. If this happened, what are we going to try
to do to prevent this? What can we do? If it's sixth-graders now,
that's bad," he said. "We all know that drug abuse is a nationwide
epidemic, but sixth-graders? They're still innocent or at least I hope
most of them are."

As a parent, Phillips said he would question his child if $50 or $100
came up missing out of his wallet.

"I'm going to find out why. There are ways to prevent this if you know
what's happening and if you care," he said, describing himself as a
"very" involved parent who attends his child's school activities. "We
know his teachers and we participate."

Truitt said the district needs parents' help on issues such as
this.

"This is a case where two kids made a poor decision and hopefully we
can bring awareness to kids and families," Truitt said, noting this is
the only drug-related incident reported this year at Turner Middle
School. He said the campus - out of all Waxahachie ISD campuses -
actually has the lowest rate overall of any type of referrals made.

The matter was brought to the school's attention by another student,
with Truitt praising that youngster, saying, "The kids know they don't
want this on campus."

The administration handled the matter per the district's code of
conduct.

"Any parent who wants to know how this was handled can look under
class 5 and know how it was handled," Truitt said.

After meeting with Phillips, Truitt said he is exploring other ideas
and programs other districts have, including better and improved ways
to communicate with parents - and to increase parental
involvement.

"I like what Mr. Phillips said about getting parents involved. I can't
argue with that," Truitt said, saying a district goal is "to create
positive, safe school structures."

Communication techniques that are being looked at include e-mail
notices and brief releases that would not infringe on student privacy
but would provide basic information to parents about such
circumstances as the one with the two students.

Truitt said he also will speak with the district's school health
advisory council, which is designed to look at programs, wellness,
drug awareness and other student-related programs. That council will
next meet April 24, with Truitt saying he expected to present
information on the incident but also programs he has found for the
council to consider relating to better communication.

"Parents, district leaders, doctors, security personnel and citizens
of Waxahachie are on this council, and any parent who wants to sign up
can call me and volunteer," Truitt said, saying program ideas are
brought to the council, which then makes recommendations to the board
of trustees.

Truitt said he encourages parents to be involved and to volunteer.
They should review the student code of conduct and make themselves
aware of the programs available through the district, he advises.

"The key to this has got to be parents and school officials working
together," he said. "We have open campuses and we love to have parents
there. They can get acquainted with their kids' friends, and we
encourage parents to have open dialogue with their children about
their experiences at school."