TRUSTEES REJECT DRUG TESTING

KENNEDALE - Concerns about funding prompted a divided school board to
reject a proposed voluntary drug-testing program for students Thursday night.

Despite the 4-3 vote, most trustees said they support the plan's concept of
creating "positive peer pressure" to help Kennedale students in seventh
through 12th grades refuse offers to use drugs.

"But the funding for the project is not in the budget right now," Trustee
Eddie Patterson said. "And I'm not sure our budget is in really good,
healthy shape right now."

Some trustees said that as a cheaper alternative, the district could
contract for occasional drug-dog searches.

The district battled for more than a year to erase a nearly $1 million
budget deficit. Business Manager Sue Martin said at the meeting that the
$17.7 million budget now is within $20,000 of breaking even.

Also worrying the trustees was the lack of a specific cost projection for
the program. Estimates ranged from $15,000 to $50,000, depending on the
number of tests performed. In addition, Superintendent Gary Dugger said he
might have to hire someone to administer the program.

Board President Darrell Barnes, Joe Alviar and Scott King joined Patterson
in voting against the program.

Still, trustees Roy Boenig, who first suggested the program, Steve Hayes
and Joe Taylor said the benefits outweigh the costs.

"It's a minuscule percent of our budget," Hayes said. "And I think the
children's future is more important than that dollar amount."

Boenig said the costs could easily be controlled by limiting the number of
students tested.

The program mirrors the Glen Rose school district's 10-year-old policy, in
which more than 90 percent of the students are participating this year.

One of the provisions in the proposal was that students who joined would
not be allowed to skip a drug test if their names were selected for
testing. A refused test would count as a finding of drug use. Students who
tested positive two consecutive times in a school year would be barred from
extracurricular activities for the rest of that year.

Alviar said that although enrolling in the program would be voluntary, the
required testing could draw legal challenges. "I'd rather spend the money
on a new teacher," he said.

But other trustees said the 150 districts in the state that have mandatory
programs would face challenges long before Kennedale would if they had
adopted the plan.

Patterson said the rejection doesn't rule out the possibility that the
matter could be considered again in the future.