MINGO COUNTY TO CONSIDER DRUG TESTING ITS STUDENT ATHLETES

CINDERELLA (AP) - The Mingo County Board of Education would consider a
student athlete drug testing policy if asked, the county school
superintendent said. The Gilbert-area Drug Coalition wants the board to
adopt a policy similar to one approved by the Logan County Board of
Education last year.

"If that was presented to us, I'm sure the board would consider it and at
that point, we would need to research the legalities of it and the success
of Logan County or other places that have it," Superintendent David Temple
told the Logan Banner in Friday's edition.

In 1995, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld an Oregon high school's athlete drug
testing program saying such testing did not violate the U.S. Constitution's
Fourth Amendment relating to unwarranted searches.

Temple said he'd like to see data from Logan County's drug testing program.

Only two athletes have tested positive since the program was adopted, said
Logan County Superintendent Brenda Skibo. The policy covers students
involved in West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission-sanctioned
activities.

The Mingo County coalition said athletes should be tested because of their
high profiles in school.

"We've got to get our kids drug free. Those are the kids others look up
to," said Debbie Trent, founder of Strong Through Our Plan, also known as STOP.