DRUG TESTING PLAN INCURS OPPOSITION: SCHOOL BOARD SET TO VOTE NEXT WEEK ON
CONTROVERSIAL PROPOSAL

White County school officials heard opinions for and against instituting a
policy of testing student-athletes for drugs March 7. About 15 people
showed for the district's information session on the proposed drug
screening program, including educators, two representatives from the the
Northeast Georgia Medical Center toxicology laboratory in Gainesville, one
student and a handful of parents.

Former White County High School principal and coach Billy Jenkins said he
is opposed to drug testing students. Jenkins submitted a position paper to
the school board outlining his objections to the proposed policy.

"Do we have a problem?" he asked. "And if so, is that problem confined to
student athletes? I consider myself an advocate for students."

White County School Superintendent Dr. Paul Shaw said he also advocates for
students, and agreed with Jenkins that not all students who use drugs are
athletes.

"If we have one student using drugs, that's one too many," Shaw said.

Jenkins said he was concerned that students' civil liberties would be
compromised by mandatory drug testing. He said the school is a public
domain and that it is up to parents to test their children for drugs if
they suspect drug abuse.

He also said he has never heard of a student-athlete in Georgia suffering a
drug-related death on the playing field. Jenkins said mandatory drug
screening would violate at least one standard of the Southern Association
of Colleges and Schools (SACS), referring to SACS' standard on citizenship
that directs educators to provide students a safe environment and
encourages students to practice personal responsibility.

Michael Walcott, a WCHS teacher and the father of a WCHS student athlete,
said he is opposed to a mandatory drug screening policy, especially if only
student-athletes are targeted for testing.

"Why go after an honor student who is an athlete?," Walcott asked. Walcott
said students should not be tested without probable cause. He said if any
drug screening is done, it should be the students who show at-risk behavior
that are tested. Walcott said the proposed policy is a waste of taxpayer
money and infringes on personal freedom.

"This is a case of the government overstepping its bounds," he said of
mandatory drug testing.

Shaw said he could not speak for the school board, but said the policy
could possibly expand to include non-athletes.

One mother of a WCHS student said illicit drug use was rampant at her high
school 25 years ago, and though she trusts her teenage son not to use
drugs, she said drug screening needs to start somewhere.

"Just because you trust your daughter or your son, you never really know,"
said Dr. Martin Porvaznik, the physician who manages Northeast Georgia
Medical Center's toxicology lab.

Porvaznik, who has been screening individuals for drug use for more than 25
years, said substance abuse crosses all social, economic, racial and ethnic
lines. The physician, who began his career in the Navy, said he was
surprised to learn that even some of his best health workers abused drugs
and alcohol.

"It (drug screening) is a part of the real world," said Troy Patton, a
Northeast Georgia Primary Care Inc. corporate marketing representative.
"Just about everybody with a job is being tested."

Patton and Porvaznik explained the drug screening procedures that would be
used should the board institute the policy. The pair said the lab conducts
fail-safe screening procedures, and any specimen that is compromised will
be discarded.

Patton said physicians who are certified to screen for drugs would review
each positive specimen collected, and then contact a student's parents to
find out if the student is taking any prescribed medications. Patton says
that lab results are kept confidential.

Northeast Georgia Medical Center's lab currently screens Hall County
students, Patton said.

The lab also offers parents home drug screening kits at a cost of $40. The
cost is less per student for school districts that decide to screen
students for drugs.

"Each student athlete tested would cost the district $25," Shaw said.

The superintendent said the board will decide how to pay for the screening
program should it be approved. He said it could be paid for by tax dollars,
through the school athletic fund or with money collected from a joint use
agreement with the county park and recreation department.

School board members discussed a proposed policy of mandatory random drug
testing of student-athletes at a regular meeting Feb. 22.

The board is expected to accept or refuse the policy, along with three
others, at its next meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 22. The other
proposed policies address the monitoring of student-athletes during hot
weather, harassment and parental consent for students to join school clubs.