HARTSELLE PLANS SCHOOL DRUG TESTS BY NEXT TERM

HARTSELLE -- If you are a student who participates in an extracurricular
activity and you are using drugs, the chairman of Hartselle's drug testing
committee has a message for you.

"It's time to get the word out that we are coming," Susan Hayes said at
Monday's committee meeting.

Mrs. Hayes, who is assistant principal at Hartselle High School, serves
also as chairman of the committee the school board appointed to develop a
random drug-testing policy.

"If kids are smoking marijuana, maybe they will stop," she said.

The committee members supported Mrs. Hayes and expressed their desire to
have a student drug-testing policy in place by the beginning of the next
school term.

School Board Chairman Susan Puckett, who was not at Monday's meeting,
stated previously that the board normally reads policies at two meetings
before adopting them. She said the board could call a special meeting to
deal with the policy.

The committee spent most of the meeting talking about and patterning
Hartselle's policy after the policy that is being considered for the
Decatur city school system.

There was one noticeable difference: Hartselle agreed to test all students
who participate in extracurricular activities.

This means student who participate in chorus and scholar's bowl, for
example, may be tested.

The committee voted also to:

a.. Test seventh- and eighth-grade students.

a.. Test for tobacco products.

a.. Require that teachers be trained on how to recommend the signs of drug use.

a.. Ban students for a year from participating if they refuse to sign a
testing consent form.

a.. Disqualify a student from participating whom tries to submit an
adulterated urine sample. The group will meet July 29 to decide what the
penalty will be for a positive drug test.