Published: January 14, 2009 10:42 pm         

School board takes first step on drug testing

EDMOND — If a policy proposed at Monday night’s Edmond School Board meeting passes, students may find it easier to say “no” to drugs in the future.

Edmond School Board members passed the first reading of Draft Policy #4430, Drug Testing Program for Students, with a 5-0 vote, with plans for the second reading and final approval at the March 2 school board meeting. If approved, the plan would be to implement the program for the 2009-10 school year.

Boulevard Academy Principal Jim Carlile, director of Safe and Drug Free Schools and chairman of the committee by the same name, presented the policy to board members.

“The Oklahoma Prevention Needs Assessment Survey of 2006, a sampling of students throughout the state, showed that Edmond seniors, when compared to Oklahoma averages and the national averages, are higher in illicit drug usage,” Carlile said. “Our 10th-graders in Edmond are below the Oklahoma average but above the national average in illicit drug usage.”

Carlile said the 2006 survey was the most recent and the results were from self reporting.

Although in 2006 marijuana was still the drug of choice for most students, the national trend is showing prescription drugs have taken a big jump with students going to their parents’ drug cabinets, Carlile said.

The primary emphasis of the policy and program is directed toward deterrence and remediation rather than punishment of pupils who test positive for alcohol, non-prescribed medications, illegal drugs or their metabolites, although it does not preclude application of existing policies concerning alcohol and drugs if a student is found to be in possession or under the influence of alcohol or drugs, he said.

School board members Kathleen Duncan and Jamie Underwood have been proponents of drug testing for the past two years.

“The purpose of the program is to help the students,” Underwood said.

Rather than punish the students, Underwood said the policy is to help students change their lives and go on to become productive citizens.

“I have been concerned about drugs in our schools for a long time,” Duncan said. “Peer pressure is a motivating factor behind many things our students do, and I believe this policy will give them an excuse to do the right thing. I think it can make a tremendous impact on the drug problem in our schools.”

The policy states in part, “Participation in athletics, extra-curricular activities and parking on campus is a privilege. Student participants, by virtue of their voluntary decision to participate and because of their position as school leaders and role models in the school community, have a heightened responsibility to be drug and alcohol free, as do those allowed to operate motor vehicles on school property.”

Carlile was asked to research and write a proposed policy for the district almost two years ago, he said. Since than he has spent time reviewing policy of other districts and even visiting a district in Lewisville, Texas, to talk with them about their program.

Original policy considerations included testing athletes and students involved in extra-curricular activities.

“I was in a discussion with Kyle Heath (Memorial High School’s principal) who said we aren’t reaching all the students we need to reach,” Carlile said.

Going back to the drawing board Carlile said that students parking on campus were added to the list.

“I think the board recognizes that a lot of schools have adopted such a position, and I think members have realized that the problem is growing,” said school board member George Cohlmia. He is up for re-election for his seat on Feb. 10 against Susan Adams and Dorothy Ray.

Although students will not be expelled or suspended from school, Cohlmia said they could be suspended from activities or the loss of parking privileges.

“We need to have community forums, gather more information and see what we need to do about it,” Cohlmia said. “I am concerned about potential lawsuits. I know a lot of times districts have won, but there is still the expense.”

Board member Charles Woodham said the courts have upheld drug testing as legal, although, “You can’t reach out and touch everybody.”

The costs of random drug testing was not addressed in the policy.

“We haven’t dealt with the expense of testing either,” Cohlmia said. “It depends on how you do (drug testing) and to the level you do it. Personally I think we need to get more clarification on it.

“If it is a win-win deal, I think we would like to find a way to do it.”

If the policy is passed there will be counseling and help available for students and parents through outside agencies. Most of the agencies would work with parents on a sliding pay scale, Carlile said.

In other business in executive session, the board approved all personnel plus hired Bruce Gowen as the new football coach at Santa Fe High School. Gowen is currently an assistant coach as well as a teacher there.

Superintendent David Goin’s contract was extended another year and now runs through the year 2011-12.



pmiller@edmondsun.com |

341-2121, ext. 171

     

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