DISTRICT OFFICIALS REPORT FEW PROBLEMS AFTER SEVERAL YEARS WITH POLICIES

While the Conway School District is wrestling with random drug testing for
students, other Faulkner County schools have been there, done that.

Vilonia, Greenbrier, Mayflower, and Mount Vernon-Enola randomly drug test
students in extracurricular activities, and the superintendents believe it
has been worth it.

Greenbrier Superintendent Mike Mertens said this will be the fourth year to
randomly test students in grades 7-12 for drugs.

"We've only had one or two parents that have had any objections to it.
Knock on wood, our parents have been very supportive. I've worked in this
business over 30 years, I've got five children and eight grandchildren, and
I just know what kids go through at a certain age with peer pressure. It
gives them a reason to say no," Mertens said. "The benefits outweigh any
negatives I've heard so far. If we can prevent one child from taking a drug
they shouldn't, it's worth it."

The Conway School District's Board of Education has a proposed drug-testing
policy that has been placed on hold. Board members have heard from many
parents, both in support and opposition to the policy.

Parents in favor of it believe extracurricular activities are a privilege,
not a right, and think drug testing will give children another reason to
stay away from drugs. Some parents believe drug testing is an invasion of
privacy, and they are concerned about where it might lead.

The Conway school board is expected to make a decision on a drug-testing
policy within the next couple of weeks.

Several school officials in the county agree with Mertens that the testing
has had a positive impact at their schools. Tommy Reed, assistant principal
for Greenbrier High School, said he talks to students about the issue, and
they tell him knowing they might be tested gives them another reason to
refuse drugs. "It's done exactly what we hoped it would do. It's been a
deterrent. It gives our kids a reason to say, 'thanks, but no thanks'."

He said the drug testing is done fairly. "We've had athletes who are very
important to our program test positive and presidents of our clubs. We find
out five minutes before" who will be tested. The random list is done on
computer by an outside agency.

One Greenbrier parent considers it "blackmail" to have to sign the
drug-testing form so her daughter can be involved in extracurricular
activities. Joyce Bowers, whose daughter attends Greenbrier High School,
refused to sign the drug policy until she attached 10 provisions to it.

"Number one, I have to be present," she said. However, Bowers said she
believes "they tend to avoid" her daughter, even though it is supposed to
be a random draw, and her daughter has yet to be tested.

Bowers, a nurse, said she spent five years working in the medical unit of a
juvenile state prison in Denver, and she contends those teen-agers had more
rights than the Greenbrier students.

"If I'm paying for my kid to go to school, I am responsible for my child
whether she does drugs or not. If my kid's got an issue, I'm responsible
for taking care of it."

Although Bowers knows some parents support the testing, she said she has
talked to at least 15 different parents who haven't signed the consent
form. "They don't agree with it, so whether their kids want to be involved
or not, they're not signing it."

She also contends students can test positive just by being in the same area
as someone smoking marijuana and that several prescription medications
"light the thing up."

Bowers advocates an anti-drug program which encourages students and builds
self-respect, "instead of making it easy for them to drop out" of activities.

Mark Crowder, superintendent of the Mayflower School District, said he saw
the drug-testing program help a student last year. The student tested
positive and was required to undergo counseling.

"It actually kept this young student interested and motivated to stay
involved. We conferenced with the parents and student. It worked for the
time period that the student was in school. It accomplished what it should.

"We don't get any complaints about it at all. It's something this day and
time, it's so prevalent, it's really in the students' best interest,"
Crowder said.

Only cheerleaders and athletes are tested in the Mayflower School District
"due to the chance of physical injury" in those activities, High School
Principal John Brainerd said.

The district tests an average of 10 to 20 students per month. "We don't get
them out of the activity immediately. We go into help mode."

Dr. David Bangs, assistant Vilonia High School principal, has studied the
issue for years, having done his doctoral dissertation in 2001 at the
University of Arkansas at Little Rock on student drug testing.

He said Vilonia parents weren't sure the program was needed when it was
first brought up a few years ago, but at a public hearing on the issue a
young man in his 20s stood up and asked for forgiveness, telling them he
knew there were drug dealers in the school, because he put them there.

"That turned it around," Bangs said.

"Frankly, if we took it out here, we would be strung up," he contended.

Monika Reuss, parent of a Vilonia ninth-grader, would be happy if they took
drug testing out of the schools. "I am not in support of drug testing.
They're targeting the wrong group of people in the first place," she said.
Reuss believes students in extracurricular activities are less likely to
use drugs. If schools are going to do drug testing, Reuss said it makes
more sense to randomly test everyone, including the staff, "not just one
group."

"As a taxpayer, I have to pay for all this testing," she said. "I think my
parental rights are being stepped on. ... I think I should be the one to
decide. If the school has a problem with my daughter, I want to know, but I
should be the one in the end who decides" whether she is tested.

Vilonia tests more students than most schools, about 20 a week. "We want
something that's going to be a deterrent. They don't know what day it is --
they don't have a clue," Bangs said.

The students may test positive on the school screening, but nothing is done
until the actual lab results come back. Although the drug screening at
school measures all "traces" of a drug, the lab results measure quantified
levels. If those tests are positive, "you're out 20 days from that day" on
a probationary basis. The student can still practice, be in the club, etc.,
but may not participate in competitions, presentations or activities
relating to Vilonia schools. A second test is done with consequences of
suspension of activities for a time. If a student receives a third
positive, "they're out for the rest of their high school career," Bangs
said, "but it may be appealed to the board. We wanted teeth in the policy.

"A kid might be upset by being out of an activity, but our goal is to get
you off that," he said.

Vilonia Superintendent Dr. Frank Mitchell said, "We're not in this to try
to destroy someone," but he believes it gives students an excuse to say no
when offered drugs. "They can say, 'well, I'm in this program and I'm going
to be tested.'"

Many parents ask to have their children added to the pool of students
tested, even if those students aren't involved in extracurricular
activities, Bangs said. Both the parents and child sign a consent form. "A
single test can be requested by a principal for a student for reasonable
suspicion," Bangs added.

If a parent is concerned about his child making poor grades, etc., he might
request the test to rule out drug use. Then the parent can sit down and
talk to his child. "What a great help," Bangs said.

He said there are 80 to 90 schools in Arkansas that use random drug testing
in some form. The landmark U.S. Supreme Court case for drug testing was
Vernonia School District v. Acton in 1995. It showed that athletes in that
Oregon school district were "part of a drug culture" in the school, and the
school began testing them. A seventh-grader contested the drug testing, but
it was upheld. "That case set the stage for a number of drug-testing
programs to be added to schools across the country," Bangs explained.

In 1999, an Arkansas case dealt with drug testing of students in
extracurricular activities in Miller vs. Wicks in Cave City. The circuit
court "said it was a good policy," Bangs said, and Miller, a student,
withdrew the complaint.

Just a few weeks ago, the Supreme Court upheld Earls vs. Board of Education
of Tecumseh Public School District, an Oklahoma case concerning drug
testing of students in extracurricular activities. Bangs said even more
school districts will probably adopt drug-testing policies now that the
case has been upheld.

Some schools in Arkansas even include students who drive vehicles to school
in the drug testing, "because that's a privilege to drive to school. We're
not denying them their rights, we're trying to give them a deterrent,"
Bangs emphasized. "I hope we don't get any positives."

He said many students are relieved after the school drug screening is
positive, but the lab result comes back negative. They have "a second
chance" to stop using drugs, Bangs said.

In his dissertation, Bangs covered the pros and cons of random drug testing
for students. Although there wasn't a long history of data to use, Bangs
found that out of 10 schools, drug testing made an impact on eight schools
the first year by reducing the number of drug-related infractions
occurring, and five of them kept showing a positive impact for two years or
longer.

"The kids who dealt with the infractions were not always the kids who were
tested, but yet it had a significant impact on them. I think that's because
some of those kids influenced other kids, in my opinion. When the school
took a hard and firm stand on it, the students were aware of it," Bangs
said. '"Just say no' doesn't work, I'm sorry. You have to get in there and
say, 'We want to help you'."

Vilonia student Dale Money, 15, plays basketball and baseball. He said he
doesn't mind the random drug testing. "I don't have anything to hide," he
said. Money's brother, Danny, 14, agreed it wasn't a big deal. "I don't
even play sports and I've been tested," with each time being negative, he said.

The South Side-Bee Branch School District is primarily in Van Buren County,
but does extend into Faulkner County. The district randomly drug tests
students in grades 7 through 12 involved in extracurricular activities.
High School Principal Travis Love said he has heard almost no complaints
from parents about drug testing.

Mount Vernon-Enola Superintendent Ronnie Greer said the district has tested
students in extracurricular activities for the past two years.

"I think it's a worthwhile thing. We're not looking to catch these kids and
punish these kids, we're looking at giving them some help. It gives them an
opportunity to say no. It's not too cool to say 'no I don't want to because
it's not the right thing to do'," Greer said.

He said 20 students a month are tested out of the 215 students in grades 7
through 12 in the district. "In the two years we've done it, I guess I had
five positives," and none of those tested positive at the lab. "I think we
have a lot of casual users who don't want to get caught the second time. I
don't think it's a cure-all. We'd be fooling ourselves if we thought that
... we do it because we care about the students. If it stops one kid from
doing it, it's worth it," Greer said.