CONWAY SUPERINTENDENT: DISTRICT TAKING DRUG-TESTING CONCERNS SERIOUSLY

Superintendent James Simmons has read all the letters for and against
random drug testing in the Conway School District, and he responded to some
of the issues in a recent interview.

The drug-testing policy under consideration, which would test students in
grades 7-12 who are in extracurricular activities, will be voted on by the
board at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

Dr. John Murphy, a school psychologist and associate professor at the
University of Central Arkansas, maintained in a letter to the board that
"child and adolescent research indicates that young people who are involved
in sports and other extracurricular activities are less likely to engage in
high-risk behaviors such as drug abuse ..."

Simmons said students in activities "may be less likely" to use drugs, "but
does that mean they're not going to do it at all? Uh-uh. My experience
tells me some do. If you've got $10, you can buy some marijuana. How many
kids have $10?" Simmons said. The student using drugs might be "the most
outgoing student in the school," and not the quiet, uninvolved student
people might suspect, he added.

He said the Supreme Court will not allow all students to be randomly
tested. "It's a right to be offered an education. It is a privilege to be
offered to participate in extracurricular activities." The superintendent
agreed that some students might choose not to participate in
extracurricular activities because of having to undergo drug testing.

Murphy also questioned the effectiveness of drug testing and believes it
"potentially jeopardizes a cooperative relationship between students and
their school."

Simmons responded: "We do have evidence that some kids have tested positive
in schools and gotten help and changed their lifestyle. Others didn't. But
at least it did let the parent know their child had a problem and they
didn't know before."

Murphy, in a telephone interview, said he can see how a drug-testing policy
could deter some kids, but his biggest concern is the possible damage to
the student's relationship with the school. "It could solve a few problems
and create some others." For example, Murphy said maybe six students
wouldn't smoke pot, but other students might write hateful things on the
bathroom wall out of resentment.

Simmons said he received an unsigned letter from a person who said he
attended Conway High School and claimed he was "in the thick of the
marijuana culture." The former student said he was in many extracurricular
activities, "and I can tell you without equivocation that if a policy had
been in place during my school years, there's no way I would have ever even
tried pot. The possibility of being tested and caught would have been a
sufficient deterrent."

J.D. Gingerich, director of the state court system, also wrote a letter to
board members. He served on a national task force for the Center for
Substance Abuse Treatment of the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services and wrote treatment standards used in courts throughout the United
States. His concerns include that "you get what you pay for" in drug
testing and that in a school setting, the most likely drug to be present in
the student athlete population is steroids, which won't be screened in
Conway's proposed drug test.

Simmons agreed that "the test for steroids is exorbitant -- it's major
dollars," and he doesn't know of any schools which test for steroids.

Gingerich also lamented that the policy under consideration "provides no
services to help a child who is identified as drug involved" so poorer
students are at a disadvantage.

Simmons said he doesn't believe that will be a significant problem. If the
student tests positive, there will be a list of four drug- counseling
agencies for parents to contact for help.

The revised policy under consideration does have the district pay for a
second drug test if the student tests positive on the first one.
Thereafter, the parents must pay for the drug testing

"If they've got enough money to buy the drugs, do they have enough money to
buy the $16 test?"

Many parents have questioned the cost to the school district for the
testing. Simmons said "our costs will not exceed $10,000" the first year.
The number of students tested may increase after the first year, but
Simmons said that is a decision that will be made later.

Another parent brought up the issue concerning the Dublin City School
District in Ohio, which decided to stop mandatory drug testing for student
athletes. Out of 3,000 students tested, only 11 of the tests were positive,
according to the author of the letter.

Simmons said he called a Dublin school administrator to discuss the
situation. "They had a minimal number of kids identified and the cost was
exorbitant ... so they delayed doing it this year. They're taking a recess,
and may start it up again," the superintendent said he was told.

"It says to me that number one, they (Dublin school officials) decided to
target only one group -- they were just doing athletes -- and we're trying
to do a little broader brush." He said students should know that when
they're representing Conway schools, "number one, we want them to be
healthy," and also safe. "We're trying just to get a message communicated
to the kids, don't do it, and if it's a problem, we want the parents to
then be informed."

In response to parents who believe it is their job, not the school's, to
take responsibility if their child is using drugs, Simmons said, "There are
different philosophies out there. Are they taking care of it? If they are,
why do we have a problem?

He said students who are using drugs often aren't identified until "it's
too late" and their drug problem is severe.

"Hardly anyone has expressed that we don't have a drug problem. The attempt
(drug testing) is another way to try to help parents address the serious
issue of drug use. Do we hide our head in the sand and proceed on, or do we
make some small steps to address the problem? We're teachers. Our job is
not to be trying things to demoralize and put kids in shambles.
Administrators have put in a considerable amount of time, consideration,
deliberation and research on how we need to do it." Simmons said in every
discussion, it was stressed that if the drug-testing policy is approved,
"it needs to be confidential, we need to maintain the dignity of the child,
and do what is as least disruptive to the instructional program as possible.

"I'm not crazy enough to believe everybody has the same opinion about
everything as I do ... and that's OK."

Murphy said he appreciates the "genuine effort" of the board to consider
all the issues. "It has been very impressive to me that they have been
willing to spend the time and effort to make the most informed decision."