Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Priest River Athletes To Be Tested For Drugs Bonner District’s Mandatory Random Testing Could Be Expanded To Other Schools

Athletes in Priest River will be guinea pigs of sorts for the Bonner County School District’s new mandatory drug-testing policy.

After months of debate, school trustees have approved a pilot program to try to curb student drug use. The test site will be Priest River Lamanna High School, where parents and teachers pushed to have the program put in place.

“I have yet to hear from anyone in Priest River who is against it. There might be some, but they haven’t voiced it to me,” said high school Athletic Director Ron Hopkins, who lobbied for the mandatory drug testing.

More than 100 parents in Priest River signed a petition asking trustees to institute the drug tests. Another 22 faculty members signed a petition offering to be drug-tested before the students are. And they will be tested, Hopkins said.

“The drug testing was the community’s idea, not mine,” he added. “This was born out of what our kids were doing.”

Starting this month, athletes, cheerleaders and drill team members will be required to give urine samples and face random drug screening. Four students a week will be selected - one each from the girls and boys basketball teams, one from the wrestling team and one from the drill team or cheerleading squad.

An outside company will collect the urine samples. The samples will be sent to a lab and analyzed for three types of drugs, including marijuana. Alcohol will not be included in the testing, but students could be required to take breath tests.

The drug tests are expected to cost about $1,000 for the rest of the year. Half the money will come from a drug education grant and half from the school’s athletic budget.

Residents have offered to ante up cash to replace what is taken from the athletic budget.

Hopkins started a voluntary drug testing program last year. He asked school trustees for a mandatory districtwide policy this year.

In a compromise, the board agreed to mandatory testing at one high school. The program will be evaluated before school begins next year to determine whether testing should be instituted at all other schools.

“It was passed strictly as a test program to gather information and see if it has a positive effect. We have not committed the rest of the district to anything,” said trustee Jerry Owens, who added that he has problems with forcing students to give urine samples.

But if parents and teachers need testing to combat drug use, “I was not going to say no to them,” Owens added.

“This thing has taken a lot of twists and turns from when I first presented it, but I’m happy with it,” Hopkins said. “I know we are under the microscope now and everything we do will be scrutinized.”

Bonner County is the second district in the state to start a mandatory drug-testing program. A district in Blackfoot also requires drug screening for athletes.

“I feel it’s important, and we are not the only school in the state that is going to have to address this,” Hopkins said. On his desk, he has addresses of four other school districts who want a copy of Bonner County’s drug-testing policy when it is made final next week.

“We are trying to do this the right way,” Hopkins said. “If some people in Priest River feel this infringes on them, then their kids don’t have to be in athletics.”

, DataTimes