GREENE BREAKS LAST WEEK'S TIE BY VOTING FOR POLICY

All eyes were on Conway school board Member Gary Greene on Monday evening
as he said, "aye," approving the random drug-testing policy 4-3.

Greene, who was in Washington on business when the vote ended in a tie last
week, said he received "a bunch" of telephone calls, e-mails and phone
messages on the drug-testing issue.

Until then, he was 70 percent sure he would vote against the policy.

"I have been contacted by so many families and individuals the last few
days, and to the 'T' just about all of them said, 'Gary, we need this'."

Superintendent James Simmons said the first drug test for students in 7th
through 12th grades could happen in four to six weeks when all the
students' names are collected and entered into a computer system.

Simmons is pleased the policy passed, but said "this is one of those things
left over on the buffet." The board unanimously approved the issue in March
2001 but put implementation on hold after parent Bruce Plopper suggested
they wait until the Supreme Court ruled on the issue. The Supreme Court
upheld this summer that testing of students in extracurricular activities
is legal.

"I would have liked it to go the other way and have them err on the side of
caution," Plopper said after the meeting. "Data on whether it's a good
policy just isn't available."

Greene said, "We don't know. It might work, and I believe it will."

Although the fact that only students in extracurricular activities will be
tested "still bothers me," Greene said, "it's a good start and I can't help
but think it's going to do some good."

Parent Janie Kehler said she is "ecstatic" about the board's decision. "I
think it was the right outcome for children to be accountable. As the other
parent said, I think it was Mr. (Larry) Edwards, it is a privilege" to be
in extracurricular activities.

Board President Terry Fiddler made a statement before the board voted,
saying he had gotten calls after the last meeting thanking him for doing
the "right thing" by voting against the policy.

"There's not a right and wrong to this issue. If so, it'd be 7 to 0. We
have seven individuals here who have taken voluminous information and
digested it and voted their conscience," Fiddler said.

None of the board members changed their vote from the last meeting. Other
board members voting against the policy were Carolyn Lewis and Lena
Hancock. Voting with Greene were Tyrone Scott, Floyd Balentine and Fred
Wiedower.

Board members said the program will be evaluated. "We can always change
it," Fiddler said.

He also said the board would like the school system to "vigorously seek
out" preventative drug programs for students beginning in kindergarten. He
also asked Simmons to change the discipline policies for those individuals
caught with drugs on campus.

Simmons said he will gather with administrators today "to get this going."
He also will monitor the number of students in extracurricular activities
to see if there is a significant drop in participation after the drug
testing begins.

The test, which will be conducted by Counseling Associates Inc. in
Morrilton, will screen for marijuana, amphetamines, methamphetamines,
cocaine and opiates. The results will then be sent to the toxicology lab at
Baptist Medical Center.

The students' names will be drawn randomly from a pool and they will be
asked to provide a specimen in private.

The Conway School District joins other Faulkner County school districts
which conduct random drug testing, including Vilonia, Greenbrier, Mayflower
and Mount Vernon-Enola.

Also at the meeting, the school board hired Jim Gunnell as head high school
swimming coach for both the boys and girls teams.