R-9 BOARD CONTINUES DRUG POLICY DISCUSSION

CARTHAGE, Mo. - The Carthage R-9 School Board came closer to some agreement
Monday night on how high school and junior high students would be tested
for illegal drugs.

But questions on when a drug-testing program would start and specifics on
which students would be included remained unresolved. The discussions
included the board's attorney and representatives of Employee Screening
Services Inc., a company that supplies testing required for district bus
drivers.

The board at the close of the meeting made no decision on when a program
would start or which specific students would be included in testing, said
Superintendent Gary Reed.

"We're going to work on another draft of the written policy," he said.
"We're going to continue to discuss it and try to get the program ready to
implement. And, we're not going to implement it until it's ready."

Some board members have said the program should start only at the beginning
of the year so that students involved in all targeted activities would be
equally affected.

But the fact that the special meeting did not bring a decision on the
program's starting date "doesn't necessarily spell the end of a program for
this particular year," Reed said.

The board for several months has discussed a proposal for drug testing of
interscholastic student athletes, based on recommendations from a
citizenship committee. Most board members seemed to endorse the plan,
despite some reservations as to timing and how the district could deal with
charges that the program singled out athletes.

That issue was the most frequent question raised at a public forum, and
several board members and officials said the program would have more
credibility if more students could be included.

Those questions were addressed in a U.S. Supreme Court decision last month.
The court, in a 5-4 ruling, said testing can be expanded to include
students in other extracurricular activities.