Cabell board will finally have first reading of drug policy

HUNTINGTON — The Cabell County School Board will have its first reading of the proposed student drug testing policy at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the central office at 2850 5th Ave., Huntington.

It’s a toned-down version of the first draft released in December. Conversations among board members and Assistant Superintendent Judy Forbush and Todd Alexander, administrative assistant over secondary education, led to a decision to start small.

The only major change to the first draft seems to be exclusion of middle school students, which will cut the cost of the program dramatically. Officials said they would have liked to have kept the middle schools in the policy, but it was very expensive, and they didn’t have enough to time to submit an application for a grant.

Alexander said the school system likely will make an addendum to the policy next year to include middle school students because there will be time to submit a grant proposal.

Also kept in the policy are students who drive and park at the school. The board was concerned about the legality of requiring those students to be a part of the random testing pool, but after about six weeks, legal counsel determined they could be included. Administrators believe parking on campus is a privilege.

The policy also contains an updated definition of who is an activity student, and thus must consent to being in the sample pool.

It is defined as “a member of any high school ... sponsored extra-curricular organization which participates in interscholastic competition. This includes any student that represents Cabell County Schools in any extra-curricular activity in interscholastic competition, including, but not limited to: Academic Team, Band, Vocal Music, Cheerleading and Athletics.”

The policy also makes it clear that an initial positive test will not be reported to parents, guardians or principals until a second test using the same specimen is testing and comes up positive as well. Both tests will be performed using the chromatography/ mass spectrometry technique.

The policy also includes the option for parents to opt their student into the pool. But parents or guardians must pay an annual fee under that option.

There will be three readings, with public comments and questions still welcome. The newest version will be available Wednesday, March 5, on the Cabell County Schools Web site, http://boe.cabe.k12.wv.us.