BRUNSWICK MULLS STUDENT DRUG TESTING

As the Brunswick Board of Education prepares to vote on a policy to
require all the school system's employees to undergo drug testing,
it may want students to head in the same direction.

During a meeting held Tuesday at the county government complex,
staff and board members discussed this and other policy and
curriculum issues. Another hot topic was the most recent county data
showing a substantial gap between black and white students' test
scores: 27.6 percentage points in math and 13.4 points in
reading, for grades three through eight. Although the school system
has adopted customized learning programs and seen some improvement
since the 2004-05 school year, it's still seeking reasons for the
gap, schools spokesman Adam Henning said.

A lengthy discussion on drug screenings preceded the presentation on
test scores. If a new policy passes, each of the school system's
1,600 employees could face a drug test. The system would require
tests of all new employees and randomly test 10 percent of current
ones. Currently, only employees who drive school vehicles are
required to be tested, Henning said.

Board member Jimmy Hobbs suggested doing the same to students,
although some factors stand in the way.

"We need some answers. We need some help," Hobbs said. "Random
testing will help identify the students with a drug problem, but not
the suppliers."

Also, schools that conduct random drug testing usually do so only
with athletes and others with after-school activities, Henning said.
The argument is that students who use drugs should also be entitled
to an education, although extracurricular activities could be
considered privileges and be taken away as punishment for drug use, he said.

The county school system is currently waiting on data from districts
that have such testing, the spokesman said. One option, he said,
would be to also classify driving a privilege to be revoked, which
could allow the inclusion of more students in the random testing.

In a 2006 survey of the county's middle and high school students, 22
percent of those responding said they had smoked marijuana, while
6.7 said they used prescription drugs as stimulants.

"We need to send a message loud and clear, that drug use will not be
tolerated," Hobbs said.