HIGH COST CURBS TESTING IN ST. JOHNS

Routine drug testing for athletes is not conducted in St. Johns County's
public schools because of the high cost of testing each player.

However, some school athletic directors would like to see such a system
implemented.

"Ideally, I and all the other athletic directors in the county would love
to test our athletes," Bartram Trail athletic director Barry Craig said.
"Unfortunately, it requires an amount of money that cannot be found in our
budget."

According to Margie Davidson, the St. Johns County School District's
coordinator of community relations and grants, a pilot drug test was
conducted three years ago at Allen D. Nease High School.

The district contracted a drug testing agency to aid in the process of
testing all the athletes.

"It was a random kind of thing," Davidson said.

Also, the test was run at the prompting of parents and others in the
community; it was not generated by the school district, she said.

There was talk at one stage of doing additional drug tests on groups of
students other than athletes, but because the law only allowed for athletes
the district could not follow through with it, Davidson said.