Barr-Reeve passes testing policy

By Sally Petty, Staff Writer

May 16, 2008 09:16 pm

— MONTGOMERY — Barr-Reeve Junior-Senior High School now has a random drug testing policy for students involved in extracurricular activities.
The school board passed the policy as part of next year’s parent-student handbook at their meeting Thursday night. About two dozen people attended the meeting, but none spoke out.
Principal Travis Madison said the policy mimics those of other area schools. A testing vendor will have a number for each student in the program and will pull the numbers randomly, he said. The school will keep the list of corresponding names and numbers and will escort chosen students to the testing site, which will be on school grounds.
Madison said he spoke with attorney Jeff Norris, who advised him the school might want to add a clause stating how often students will be tested, how many will be tested each time and what they will be tested for.
“I fell we need to have that in there,” Madison said.
However, he felt the board could adopt the policy Thursday night without that clause and add it later after consulting with the testing company. They can also amend it to test for additional drugs if fads change.
Extracurricular activities that will require students to be in the random testing pool include sports, clubs, student government and student drivers who park on school property. Parents can also request that their children be included in the pool, even if they are not in extracurricular activities, said Madison.
In other policy news, Madison said he conceded on one point in the dress code to allow shorts, but the policy will now require that shorts and skirts be at least knee-length.
The policy will also include a change mentioned at the last meeting adding an option for a two-day suspension for students caught using cell phones in school for those parents who don’t want their children’s cell phones confiscated for seven days as is currently done.
Tax rate
Superintendent Brian Harmon announced that the school had received its tax rate at $1.3667 per $100 assessed valuation. That’s up seven cents from 2007, less than Harmon expected.
The district’s assessed value went up from $233 million in 2007 to $251 million in 2008.
Harmon also talked about how property tax caps will effect the school in coming years. He said his biggest concern is how they will effect the school after 2010, when the state no longer provides a grant to offset the cuts.
In other business
ELEMENTARY PARENT HANDBOOK
The handbook for elementary students remains essentially the same for next year. The only changes, said Harmon, were to group Title I information together. The board approved the changes.
TEXTBOOK ADOPTIONS
The board approved textbook adoptions as recommended. Elementary English and spelling handbooks will be from Houghton-Mifflin. Junior and senior high English and language textbooks will be from Holt Rinehart Winston except for one Spanish book from Glencoe McGraw Hill.
INVENTORY
By federal and state law, the school is required to keep record of its asset inventory, which they do before each audit every two years. The board approved American Appraisals to create the inventory.