DRUG PROGRAM REQUIRED AT NEW KENT HIGH SCHOOL

Would-Be Football Players To Attend Education Sessions

NEW KENT -- New Kent High School students who want to play sports this fall
will have to spend a couple of hours learning about the dangers of drug abuse.

Superintendent Roy Geiger said Wednesday the drug-education program is
being set up to begin in August for students trying out for football.

The School Board flirted briefly last year with the idea of requiring
would-be athletes to be tested for the presence of illegal drugs.

School officials looked at drug-testing programs in force in Lynchburg and
Salem -- one voluntary and one mandatory. Lynchburg's mandatory program was
considered a safety measure to help protect athletes against injuries or
other health problems.

Geiger said officials were concerned about the effectiveness of a testing
program because:

It would only apply to students participating during a particular sport's
season.

Legally, Geiger said, only athletes can be required to submit to drug
testing, because participation in sports is voluntary.

Testing would be time-consuming for school staff.

The program would not be effective for alcohol abuse.

Geiger said alcohol is a more likely drug of choice for New Kent students
than cocaine or heroin.

Alcohol doesn't stay in the blood as long as the other drugs, so a student
could drink on the weekend and pass the test on Monday, he explained.

Geiger said he consulted with Harry Ward, Mathews County School
Superintendent, about that school system's plan to start a voluntary
drug-testing program for its student body. Mathews dropped the plan after
learning that such testing might be unconstitutional.

The New Kent School Board dropped the idea of testing athletes as well.

"At the same time, the School Board wanted to send a statement about how
important it is for students not to place themselves in these risky
situations," Geiger said.

The school system already has drug-education programs, including a series
of senior seminars in the high school in which parents with medical
backgrounds talk to the students about drugs, he noted.

The program for athletes, he said, will build on that foundation.