Corbin drug testing committee nears policy recommendations

A special advisory committee created to study expanded random drug testing for students at Corbin High School is expected to meet for a final time this week, and will likely make recommendations to the school district’s Board of Education next month.
Jane Chandler, Director of Special Education for the district, chairs the committee which has met only once since October. She said she hopes members, which include administrators, instructors, parents and even students, will be able to nail down a specific recommended policy some time this week.
“We are hashing over who is to be tested and what to test for, the number of times we test and the consequences for it … that sort of stuff,” Chandler said. “It has been a difficult undertaking.”
At one time on the cusp of voting for an expanded policy that would test student athletes and any students involved in extracurricular activities, including student drivers, members of the Board of Education decided to take a slower approach after questions arose in October. Some board members were concerned about the percentage of students randomly tested, the frequency of testing and cost. The initial proposal bumped the percentage of students tested from 10 to 20 percent, and expanded the testing pool. Others asked about the lack of testing for “performance enhancing drugs.” Board Chair Debbie Cook said an oversight board, initially created in 1998 when the district decided to randomly test student athletes, should be reconstituted. It was disbanded due to lack of funding.
Chandler said at the advisory committee’s sole meeting Nov. 28, a lot of good questions were raised about the issue. An impromptu meeting with some students earlier also yielded interesting discussion.
“The students brought up things I hadn’t even thought of,” she said. “Surprisingly, they are harder than the adults are. They thought you ought to test every student.”
She said the biggest reservation students had was over testing drivers.
“That hit a nerve with them,” she said.
Other issues included parity between punishment for athletes who test positive and other students. Athletes are normally suspended from being with teams for a number of games. Under the proposed policy, students in extracurricular activities could be banned from clubs or groups for weeks.
The group even talked about the definition of a club and which students would be considered to be involved in an extracurricular activity. Chandler said some committee members thought only clubs with a school-designated sponsor should count as an official extracurricular activity.
According to a recent report released by the district, 10 students athletes have tested positive for drugs under the current policy since 1998. None have tested positive since 2004. About 600 students, all told, have been tested. The report did not specify which drugs the students tested positive for.
Chandler said the high school had its most recent round of random testing in October with no positive results.
In the move toward expanded testing, Corbin isn’t alone among area schools. Whitley County School District Superintendent Lonnie Anderson said the high school in his district has tested athletes as well as student drivers and those involved in extracurricular activities for five or six years.
“I think it’s very effective,” he said. “In this day and age, it’s one of those necessary evils that we need to have in place if for no other reason than to assure both school personnel and parents that kids are clean.”
He said “very few” students at the high school have ever tested positive for drugs. Students involved in athletics and clubs, he contends, are normally the most influential in the school, justifying the need to test them in order to dissuade drug use among the greater student population.
“I wish we didn’t feel the need to do this, however, we do want to encourage our students who are participating in extracurricular activities to be positive role models,” Anderson said.
Anderson said few parents or students complained about testing when the district’s Board of Education approved it. The school district receives federal tax money to help subsidize the testing, but spends money from its own general fund as well.
At the other end of the spectrum, the Williamsburg Independent School District does no random student drug testing. Director of Instruction Loren Connell said parents and administrators haven’t identified a need for such a measure yet.
“Overall, I don’t think there has been a push for this from our stakeholders to have any type of policy in place,” he said. “I don’t think we are oblivious to the fact that students can obtain access to drugs in our community and we do everything we can to discourage drug use … Do we have reason to believe a small percentage of students are using drugs, yes. Is it widespread, no.”
Though federal funds are in place to encourage expanded testing, cost may be one reason why some districts shy away from the issue. Current 10-panel drug screens used at Corbin High School are about $18 each. In essence, the district has spent about $1,080 for each student who has tested positive in the last eight years. Tests that detect steroids or other drugs athletes would be more prone to use run anywhere from $50 to $80. Then there’s the cost of administering the tests – sometimes contracted out to specialized medical firms.
Chandler said regardless of what her committee recommends, any new policy won’t take effect until the beginning of the next school year.
No date or time for the advisory committee’s next meeting had been set as of press time.