Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - Freer ISD will test athletes for drug use

Marketplace \| Services \| Contact Us \| Community \| Arts & Entertainment \| Local Guides

[an error occurred while processing this directive]

Thursday, July 20, 2000

Freer ISD will test athletes for drug use
Scheduled and random checks will start in seventh grade
By Lee Goddard
Caller-Times

Freer’s policy
First Offense
Procedures:
1, Drug counseling.
2. Notification of parent/guardian to discuss the student’s problem.
3. Approval of the district designee before a student is reinstated.
Sanctions:
1. Suspension from athletic activities for a minimum of 30 school days and may be carried over to the next school year.
2. Students will be retested at the end of the 30-day suspension and their system must be clear of any drugs before reinstatement.
3. A student who tests positive will be expected to test on each scheduled date for one calendar year from the date of the positive test. After one year and no positive test has been made, then the student will return to random testing status.
Second Offense
Procedures:
1, Drug counseling.
2. Notification of parent/guardian to discuss the student’s problem.
3. Approval of the district designee before a student is reinstated.
Sanctions:
1. Suspension from athletic activities for 90 calendar days.
2. Students will be retested and their system must be clear of any drugs before reinstatement.
3. Students will be expected to test on each scheduled date for the rest of their Freer athletic career.
Third Offense
Sanctions:
1. Suspension from participation in athletic activities for the rest of their Freer career.
Source: Freer ISD Random Drug Testing Program

Athletes in the Freer Independent School District will be given drug tests within the month, which could make it the first South Texas school district to test its students for drug use.
   Athletes in the seventh through 12th grades will each take at least one drug test a year, beginning July 31, said Superintendent Carlos Lopez, and random testing will be done in three phases throughout the school year. Those tests will be given to athletes - a minimum of 30 each time - who will be selected at random by a computer. The tests will detect use of amphetamines, cocaine or marijuana, Lopez said.
   "Eventually, a lot of schools will go with this," Lopez said. "I don't care what anybody says, but every place has a little drug problem."
   The Freer district received input on the drug testing policy from law enforcement officials, clergy and parents, Lopez said, as well as from other school districts around the state that already test athletes.
   Freer athletes contacted Wednesday generally favored the policy but questioned why it was being directed solely at athletes and not other students or those involved in extracurricular activities like band, drill team or speech.
   "It will be beneficial more than anything, but I think if they are going to drug test, they should drug test the whole school and not just the athletes," said Sam McAnear, a senior offensive lineman on the Buckaroos' football team.
   "I think it's a good idea," said senior Richard Alaniz, who also plays football. "I haven't talked to many teammates this summer to see what they think about it, but I think if they do athletes, they should do everybody."
   No Freer athletes were disciplined last school year for drug use, Lopez said. But the school district felt uncomfortable drug testing non-athletes because while past court rulings have upheld the majority of challenges to athletic drug testing, they don't necessarily allow for testing the overall student body, said Gus Acevedo, attorney for the district.
   "We need to be very careful with these things," Acevedo said. "They're prone to subjecting the school district to litigation. Since there is possible abuse, we adopted this policy.
   "For a random test of all students, you need to establish a problem or previous history of (drug) use to justify the situation where testing is necessary," he said. "It's a tougher standard when you take it out to the student body at large."
   Officials with the University Interscholastic League and Texas Education Agency said they believed Freer is the first South Texas school district to begin drug testing. Last spring, the Corpus Christi Independent School District briefly considered the idea of drug testing high school athletes.
   No policy at CCISD
   Athletic director Richard Avila, as well as athletic coordinators at King, Miller, Moody and Ray, favored drug testing for athletes, but the CCISD never implemented such a plan.
   Joseph Lopez, the CCISD's executive director for instruction and student services, said there are no plans for the district to implement drug testing, though it does educate coaches on catching any signs of potential drug use.
   Avila, who said he believes the CCISD does a good job of detecting drug users, believes Freer's drug policy is a positive step.
   "I say more power to Freer," Avila said. "Some places just have different ways of doing it."
   While every Freer male and female athlete will take the initial drug test, any may face as many as three more, if selected by the computer.
   An athlete that joins a team later in the season automatically will be administered a first test, according to the policy. A refusal to take a drug test is considered a positive test result, the policy states.
   Three-strike system
   The school district will use a three-strike system:

On the first positive test, the parent or guardian will be notified, the athlete will be given drug counseling and must have approval from a designated district administrator before he or she is reinstated to athletic activity.
   Also, the student will be suspended for 30 days from athletics and may be re-tested again before being allowed reinstatement.
   For one school year, he or she will be subjected to designated drug tests. After one year of non-positive testing, he or she will return to random test status.

A second positive test results again in parental notification and counseling. The suspension, however, will last 90 days and the student will take designated tests - the number and frequency of tests to be determined by the district on a case-by-case basis - for the remainder of his or her athletic career at Freer.

After a third strike, the athlete will no longer be allowed to participate in athletics at Freer.
   Test results are cumulative. If, for example, a student tests positive for drugs as an eighth-grader, a second positive test in any subsequent grade would be considered strike two.
   Lopez estimated that the testing would cost the FISD between $8,000 and $10,000 per year but said it will be worth the cost.
   "The cost is minimal when looking at the benefits," he said. "We feel this is a step in the right direction. We're trying to cut the problem off at the pass. We can't ignore it."
   Neither the TEA nor the UIL have precise numbers on how many schools are testing. Kay Beth Stavley of the TEA had a report from the 1998-99 school year that stated 211 schools in Texas were planning to administer drug tests in some form.
   She did not know if they all followed through on testing.
   Bill Farney, the executive director of the UIL, also said he had no solid statistics, but estimated that approximately 30 or 40 school districts use some form of drug testing. There are 1,062 school districts in the state according to the Texas Almanac. Testing for drugs is not against UIL regulations, Farney said.
   "It's not a violation if you don't test and it's not recommended that you do test," Farney said. "There's not a rule that if you are involved in drugs, you're ineligible."
   Bob Ford, Freer's football and track coach and boys athletic director, said he has a personal reason for feeling the tests are needed. He recalled an incident "a few years back" when an athlete nearly killed himself by using drugs prior to a practice.
   "I'm for it. Athletics and drugs don't mix," Ford said. "I had a football player years back that was in critical condition. The condition was not from football, but from drugs he put into his body and it dehydrated him. I think this protects the individual."
   Fran Adami, who coaches Freer volleyball, basketball and track in addition to being in charge of girls athletics, also takes a pro-test stance.
   "It helps protect the kids and safeguard what can happen," she said. "The administration and school board always try to do what's right for the kids. I think it shows a lot of character for our school to do that."


Staff writer Lee Goddard can be reached at 886-3613 or by e-mail at goddardl@caller.com

| Talk about this story | Next Story | Home |

[ Printer-friendly version ]
[ Subscribe to newspaper ]

SEND THIS PAGE TO A FRIEND

[an error occurred while processing this directive]