Athletes and cheerleaders at Childersburg High School will be held to a higher standard in the 2008-2009 school year.The Talladega County Board of Education adopted a random drug testing policy for athletes and cheerleaders at the school at the May meeting.
The policy is the first of its kind for any Talladega County Schools and came at the request of the athletic department at Childersburg High. Other schools in the system are not affected by the policy, but it could be added in the future according to Superintendent Suzanne Lacey.
“Childersburg had requested that the board consider adopting a policy requiring drug testing for its athletes,” Lacey said Wednesday. “It would be something we would like to consider implementing at the other schools.”
The new policy, which will be completely funded by the athletic department, will go into effect for the 2008-2009 school year.
“That’s just something really from the athletic department,” Childersburg Athletic Director Jeff Bullen said Friday. “It came from us. We thought there was a need to do this. We’re continuing to look for things that will help our athletic program.
“This day and age there are problems in every school. We just thought it would be something that would be a positive thing for us.”
Parents of athletes received a copy of the policy before school ended in May. They were required to sign a consent form in order for the student to participate in sports and cheerleading at Childersburg for the upcoming school year.
A list of all the athletes at the school will be put into a computer, which will then generate a random testing pool.
Students who are on the list for testing will be subject to random testing for the entire school year.
The tests will be administered by a selected lab and all results will be confidential and released only to the board of education, superintendent, school principal, the coach or sponsor of the sport played and the counseling agency responsible for the mandated counseling.
Students who test positive for illegal substances cannot resume the activity until they can re-test with a negative result. First time violators who test positive for illicit or banned substances other than nicotine and alcohol will be suspended for 30 percent of the contests and must enroll in a drug education program.
A second violation would result in a one-year suspension from any sport at the school. Should the athlete violate the policy a third time, he or she would receive a permanent suspension from all sports at Childersburg.
A positive test for nicotine or alcohol would result in a suspension for 10 percent of athletic contests for the first violation.
Bullen said he and the rest of the athletic department hope the new policy serves as a way to encourage students to stay away from drugs and alcohol.
“We think it will be a deterrent for our young kids,” he said. “All they have to do is say, ‘Hey, I’m an athlete, I’d rather not do that.’”
While other schools around the state are implementing policies similar to the one Childersburg adopted, the Alabama High School Athletic Association has no drug-testing policy in place for schools participating in the association. Bullen said other schools in the county would be watching Childersburg this year to see how the process works for them before considering adopting it.
“A lot of schools are doing it now,” Bullen said. “I’m not saying (other schools in the county) should do it. I think everyone is watching us to see what happens this year.”
Bullen said parents of athletes at Childersburg are in favor of the testing.
“Most of the comments that I’ve heard have been real positive,” he said. “I think the parents think it’s a very positive step in our athletic program.”
