REYNOLDSBURG REQUIRES DRUG TESTS FOR SPORTS

The Policy Approved By The School Board Also Will Apply To Cheerleaders

All of Reynoldsburg's junior- and high-school athletes must take drug tests
this fall and may be tested at random during the rest of the year under a
policy approved last night.

Eight percent of student-athletes, including cheerleaders, will be picked
for random urine tests as often as each week under the policy, approved by
the Reynoldsburg Board of Education.

They will be tested for alcohol and tobacco products, as well as drugs such
as marijuana, LSD, Ecstasy, cocaine and anabolic steroids.

Students wishing to play any sport, no matter the season, must take an
initial test between Aug. 1 and Sept. 15 under the policy. Then their names
will be placed in a pool that is subject to a weekly drawing by a private
vendor.

That vendor will collect samples at the school buildings and conduct
laboratory tests for the banned substances, said Tony Pusateri, athletics
director and Reynoldsburg High School football coach.

"In football, we have kids lifting weights, dieting, working out in the
heat. Like any sport, it's a health thing," Pusateri said. "Also, it helps
give students an out from peer pressure."

Those who test positive will miss half their games for that season. A
second positive test and they cannot play any sport for a calendar year. A
third positive will end their high-school athletic career.

The students would not be suspended. Instead, they would undergo
counseling, Pusateri said.

The policy first was proposed three years ago by high-school juniors Stacy
Cramer and Brandy Moore for a civics project. Now graduates, Cramer and
Moore attended last night's board meeting to see the policy approved.

"In our high-school career, we lost an average of one friend a year in
drunk-driving accidents. It just hurt too much," said Moore, 20, a nursing
student at Columbus State Community College and a surgical secretary.

Reynoldsburg joined eight other central Ohio school districts that are
testing athletes at random: Dublin, Pickerington and Fairfield Union in
Fairfield County, Fairbanks and Marysville in Union County, Olentangy in
Delaware County, Logan Elm in Pickaway County and London in Madison County.

Of those, only Olentangy is also testing seventh- and eighth-graders,
Pusateri said.

A longtime policy of many private schools, random testing has been
considered by more public schools nationwide in recent years. A 1995 U.S.
Supreme Court decision upheld drug testing in an Oregon high school on the
grounds that participation in sports presents a greater risk of injury.
That policy dealt strictly with athletics.

When they proposed the policy, Cramer and Moore wanted it to include all
extracurriculars. The administration changed it to athletics and
cheerleading only.

But additional activities, such as ski club, may be added in the future,
board member Mary Hudson said.

The policy passed 4-0. President Cheryl Max and members Hudson, Andy Swope
and Harry Zuene were in favor. Tami Williams was absent.

That no one showed up at last night's meeting to oppose the policy shows
that it has the community's support, Hudson said.

But at least one incoming Reynoldsburg freshman doesn't like it.

"It's a very terrible idea. It's an invasion of privacy," said Deryk
Tangeman, 14.

Tangeman, who said he doesn't drink or use drugs, plans to play football in
the fall.