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Schools

Douglas School System Renews Random Drug Policy

At first, school board member Sam Haskell said there was no longer money for the program, but Chief Financial Officer Kay Turner explained that the funding has already been set aside.

Safety School Procedure Director Zach Spencer detailed the fifth year of the Douglas County School System's random drug testing policy to the Board of Education on Monday.

He said the policy tests high school students who participate in “privileged activities,” which are sports or clubs. Students were tested monthly throughout the school year at each of the county's four public high schools. He added students were randomly selected by computer based on their student ID number, not their name.

This year, two students tested positive for marijuana and another refused to take the test, which is treated the same as a positive test. After six students tested positive in the 2006-07 school year—the first year of the policy—the number of positive drug tests decreased, with only two students in each of the last two years.

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Board member Sam Haskell, whose District 4 represents five elementary schools, told Spencer that he had heard bad news about the program’s future.

“I’m saddened we’re not going to be doing this (any longer),” Haskell said.

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Spencer told Haskell and the rest of the board that the program was ending because the federal funds that supported it had run out. Spencer said it costs $10,000 annually to run the program.

To avoiding ending it, Haskell asked Spencer if it was possible for the program to be renewed but only for one semester a year.

Before the discussion continued further, Chief Financial Officer Kay Turner stepped in and told Haskell that she had already set aside $10,000 to continue the random drug program for next year.

“You’ve just warmed my heart,” said Haskell, a retired psychologist.

After the meeting, Haskell explained the importance of maintaining the program.

“For a lot of kids in high school, if they realize that there’s no random drug testing, then they could take drugs and not get caught,” he said. “But this should prevent that.”

Also during the two-hour meeting, the board voted 4-1 to approve a $1 increase for athletic admission prices for sports other than football and basketball. The new price would make all athletic activities cost $5 because football and basketball are already at that price.

Board member Janet Kelley, whose Post 3 includes , voted against the increase because she preferred an option of providing a discount for current students.

The board was also informed that school officials recommended strengthening the district’s promotion and retention policy, IHE, for 2011-12 freshmen. Rob Brown, director of high school instruction, said the new policy would force students to pass specific core content area subjects, such as math, science, English and social studies, before they could be promoted to the next grade level.  

The board did not vote on the policy change as it was only on the agenda for information purposes.

“This is gonna help us to help our kids stay on track,” Kelley said.

Brown added: “This hopefully will tell them the urgency of the situation … and to correct the problems as soon as possible."

The board voted unanimously on the rest of the agenda items at the meeting. Those included:

  • Spending $32,000 from federal funds to purchase an upgrade package for the Read 180 program for Alexander, Chapel Hill, Douglas County and Lithia Springs high schools. Catherine Magouyrk, associate superintendent of student achievement and leadership, said New Manchester High did not need the upgrade package since it will open with the upgraded version.
  • Spending $320,016.39 from general funds for total Social Studies Adoption learning resource materials. The social studies materials for the high schools will cost $288,260.39. Social studies online maps will be available for six years at a cost of $11,526 annually, and K-12 health will able available for $20,230 per year for six years.
  • Changing the furlough date from June 2 to June 3 for all employees who work more than 190 days. Superintendent Gordon Pritz said this will allow the school system to close down entirely on June 3 and for everyone to have a three-day weekend.
  • Purchasing carpet squares and supplies from Thomas Carpets for various schools with $76,596 in SPLOST funds.
  • Using $659,329 from SPLOST funds to replace roofs at Chapel Hill Middle and Douglas County High’s Adams Building with Ben Hill Roofing Company.
  • Agreeing to sell nine surplus buses, a van and a grass mower because they were no longer viable to the school system. The district hopes to sell them on an Internet auction site. 

During the board member closing comment and announcement section, D.T. Jackson, whose Post 2 serves four elementary schools including , closed the meeting with an ominous tone.

“I wish all 10 of us could play in the sandbox at the same time and stop squabbling,” said Jackson, who has served on the board for four months.

After the meeting, he explained his statement further.

“You look at a $1 million house on the hill and it looks great, and you go in the house and it looks like a wreck,” he said. “Eventually, it will all come out in the wash.”

Haskell said he was thrown off by Jackson’s closing comment.

“I think we get along well, especially since Mr. Jackson has been on the board. It’s been extremely calm,” he said.

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