Results of drug tests come back

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

CLOVERDALE -- Three women representing the Student Advisory Health Committee were present at Monday's school board meeting to discuss results of drug testing of students, along with recommendations for healthier foods.

The committee is comprised of drug education, health and wellness and AIDS committees. Their purpose is to go over curriculum and dietary habits to help improve these areas.

Lisa Baker spoke on behalf of the drug education committee.

"We have drug testing in place at both the middle school and high school," Baker said. "This year, the number of random tests went up to approximately 20 per month."

Baker reported that this year, there were 131 random drug tests given at the high school. Of that number, 14 came back positive. Also, there were 14 reasonable suspicion tests given of which 12 came back positive. At the middle school level, 46 random drug tests were given and none returned positive. Of the 14 reasonable suspicion tests given, only three were returned positive.

"This equals out to about 10-percent," Baker said. "There was no increase or decrease from past years."

Kristen Crabtree spoke on behalf of the Health and Wellness committee. She reported that they felt it was best to hire a dietician to make their menu. They had one look over it and she reported that the woman who did had a great deal of suggestions including decreasing carbohydrates, having fries only once per month and adding more fresh fruit.

"We also believe it is best to discontinue the sale of candy bars at the middle school," Crabtree said.

Board member James Sharp joked at the end of the meeting, "I would like to wish you good luck with having fries only once a month."

Kathy Moore represented the AIDS Committee. She said that the state curriculum is abstinence only, which they will adhere to stringently. One main resource is the American Red Cross AIDS fact book.

"The book covers everything. If a student has a question, the teacher can look up the answer and decide if they will discuss it from the answer they find," Moore said.

In other business, the football field will also have two new light poles on the east side. The two were in disrepair and had to be removed. Duke energy has donated the labor on the removal and replacement of these poles.

The board also recognized Custodian Larry Teall who is retiring after 24 years of service. He will remain with the school corporation as a bus driver though.

The Cloverdale School Board meets regularly at 7 p.m. the third Monday of every month at the Arthur Johnson Administration Center. Their next meeting will be June 16.

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  • Lets also drug test the staff too, maybe even make them take the SAT's to make sure they , Whom are teaching our children can pass also. Let's set the teachers at the standards they want to be. TOP OF THE CLASS. Remember they staff members are in charge of our childrens lives 7 to 8 hours a day , 5 days a week. This is not to slam anyone so please don't get offended.

    -- Posted by victory on Tue, May 13, 2008, at 10:43 AM
  • I don't take it as a slam, you have a valid point. The SAT testing may be out there but no one should be exempt from being drug free while holding a job as a teacher or administrator in a public school.

    -- Posted by Xgamer on Tue, May 13, 2008, at 8:33 PM
  • None of the schools in the county have a policy on testing the staff. This also goes for the coaching staff. If these people aren't tested, I dont see that it is fair to test the students/athletes.

    -- Posted by concerned3 on Tue, May 13, 2008, at 11:33 PM
  • Fries once a month? LOL,at Cloverdale? Historically,Fries on monday become cheesy fries on weds and then,chilli cheese fries on friday.Wellness program? suuuuure.Just watch their menus closely and you will see what I;m talking about. Ol cookie isnt monitored by the Admin,hasn;t ben for a looooong time.

    -- Posted by honestyisbestpolicy on Thu, May 15, 2008, at 11:07 PM
  • As someone who works in education I say bring on the drug tests. However, as to the SAT please remember that all high school teachers are expected to be experts in one particular field not generalists. We have all passed the required tests and have our certification, no need to continue proving that we are smart.

    -- Posted by Siera on Mon, May 19, 2008, at 6:12 PM
  • I have nothing against student drug testing but totally agree with victoria on staff testing as well. I am a former state employee and was shocked at the time of hire to find that I had no drug testing to do. Something is wrong with that picture. After all these people are given authority over our children five days a week. Shouldn't we drug test them randomly as well? So, whip out the cups!

    -- Posted by Carlas_35 on Mon, May 19, 2008, at 10:40 PM
  • I have read and reread this story and not quite sure how drug testing Staff came up. What in the article would lead anyone to think teachers should be held to a higher standard than any other job out there? Parents have children at least 7-8 hours/5 days a week and longer on weekends. Based on the mentality stated in these comments, should we drug test parents as well?

    Not offended but clearly don't understand the thought process on these comments.

    -- Posted by gingb2 on Wed, May 21, 2008, at 9:32 PM
  • All the Staff should be tested the same day or days the Students are being tested.Just because the staff works for a school doesn't mean they're perfect.Everyone lives a secret life.

    -- Posted by what_it's_worth on Thu, May 22, 2008, at 1:18 AM
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