CoppellCowboy57
05-17-2005, 01:33 PM
Grapevine-Colleyville: 10% to 40% of kids in activities to be screened
04:16 AM CDT on Tuesday, May 17, 2005
By KATHRYN YEGGE / The Dallas Morning News
GRAPEVINE – Grapevine-Colleyville school trustees voted unanimously Monday night to implement mandatory drug testing and drug education for students involved in sports and other extracurricular activities.
Trustee Jesse Rodriguez said that he is dismayed when people refer to Grapevine-Colleyville as "the poster district for steroid use" and that the board is sending a clear message to students: "You need to be clean if you want to play on our team."
The district's drug policy calls for testing 10 percent to 40 percent of those students involved in high school activities for all illicit drugs, including steroids, at a cost of $27,000 a year. Testing will begin next school year.
The funds will come from the district's budget and will not be passed on to parents as additional pay-to-play costs. The district is also looking into grants that might help pay for testing.
Students can be retested several times throughout the school year. Positive results can lead to counseling sessions and suspension from extracurricular activities.
Superintendent Kay Waggoner said deciding on testing "had not been taken lightly."
"When looking at the district's best interest as a whole, we are very confident in this proposal," she said.
The issue has been debated since The Dallas Morning News reported in February that nine school district athletes admitted they had used steroids during the previous school year.
Grapevine-Colleyville joins at least 22 North Texas districts that have mandatory drug-testing programs, a recent News survey showed. At least eight of those test for steroids.
In a recent district survey of nearly 1,400 people, more than 63 percent of parents, students and community members said they favored random drug testing.
Mike Taylor, a parent and chair of the Grapevine-Colleyville district Excellence Committee, said some students need the district's help to deter them from using drugs.
"They need to know they're being watched," he said.
Also at Monday night's meeting, school board members unanimously voted to approve the district's $108 million bond proposal. A district bond steering committee spent nearly six months deciding on what to spend funds on, including more than $2 million for field turf at three sites and more than $13 million for a new Colleyville elementary school. The board is expected to call the Sept. 10 bond election at its June 20 meeting.
(Dallas Morning News- May 17th 2005)
04:16 AM CDT on Tuesday, May 17, 2005
By KATHRYN YEGGE / The Dallas Morning News
GRAPEVINE – Grapevine-Colleyville school trustees voted unanimously Monday night to implement mandatory drug testing and drug education for students involved in sports and other extracurricular activities.
Trustee Jesse Rodriguez said that he is dismayed when people refer to Grapevine-Colleyville as "the poster district for steroid use" and that the board is sending a clear message to students: "You need to be clean if you want to play on our team."
The district's drug policy calls for testing 10 percent to 40 percent of those students involved in high school activities for all illicit drugs, including steroids, at a cost of $27,000 a year. Testing will begin next school year.
The funds will come from the district's budget and will not be passed on to parents as additional pay-to-play costs. The district is also looking into grants that might help pay for testing.
Students can be retested several times throughout the school year. Positive results can lead to counseling sessions and suspension from extracurricular activities.
Superintendent Kay Waggoner said deciding on testing "had not been taken lightly."
"When looking at the district's best interest as a whole, we are very confident in this proposal," she said.
The issue has been debated since The Dallas Morning News reported in February that nine school district athletes admitted they had used steroids during the previous school year.
Grapevine-Colleyville joins at least 22 North Texas districts that have mandatory drug-testing programs, a recent News survey showed. At least eight of those test for steroids.
In a recent district survey of nearly 1,400 people, more than 63 percent of parents, students and community members said they favored random drug testing.
Mike Taylor, a parent and chair of the Grapevine-Colleyville district Excellence Committee, said some students need the district's help to deter them from using drugs.
"They need to know they're being watched," he said.
Also at Monday night's meeting, school board members unanimously voted to approve the district's $108 million bond proposal. A district bond steering committee spent nearly six months deciding on what to spend funds on, including more than $2 million for field turf at three sites and more than $13 million for a new Colleyville elementary school. The board is expected to call the Sept. 10 bond election at its June 20 meeting.
(Dallas Morning News- May 17th 2005)