Test, educate, support, love. Do all that is within this community's power to help young kids make the right choices about drugs and alcohol. Thanks Hall and Gainesville schools!

Perhaps they should make use of the inordinate sum they charge for the reserved parking at some of the schools. I want records, official and tangible documents, detailing the whereabouts and distributions of this income.

Additionally, the Hall County school board should have consulted parents and students before they even thought of publicly trying to instate this policy. I am well aware of the meeting that took place today, mind you. Do not misunderstand my intentions. The problem lies not within the idea, but the execution. Remember who you serve, meandering board members.

Peace.

Keeping our kids out of the clutches of drugs and alcohol has no price tag I wouldn’t be willing to pay. So yes, Mr. Gill, I would be willing to pay tax for this purpose. I remain very critical of the Hall County school administration’s waste of resources on frivolous levels of bureaucracy to the detriment of the classroom. However, this issue is above bickering about money and I support the board and administration fully in this important effort.

Having said that, I’m also with Joshua- how about some transparency on where all the money is going now? Joshua, I like how you think, man; you are going to be a force to be reckoned with my friend!

J.G.

Lets see. A policy based on fear, intimidation and an almost pathological need for control instead of one based on educating.

Sounds about right.

It really doesn’t matter too much what the public thinks, at least in the case of the Hall County system does it? The folks up at 711 Green have already decided on moving ahead with the policy without any discussion from the people it will impact. Business as usual in the ‘new’ Hall system.

In 2004 there were public hearings before the policy was passed. In 2008 we pass the policy and then say we might have a meeting to hear from the public.

Wonder how much the new Hall Co. drug czar position will pay?

A quick Google search shows that such policies based on non suspicious activity or reasonable cause have already been ruled as unconstitutional by supreme courts in some states such as Washington State.
Should provide some interesting lawsuits to watch down the way. Hope there is money in the budget for that..

I agree, drugs are bad.
Maybe such a policy will be effective, at least in terms of statistics and bragging rights.

In the long run it is education that saves and improves lives though. Isn’t that what schools are about?

Kudos to the Times for the recent informational and educational articles that teach and inform about the perils drug use.

I will be as respectful as I posibly can, but you guys are to be prayed for. You could have come to the publicized meetings the Hall County system conducted over the past two years gathering input from parents, teachers, law enforcement, and administrators. School Board minutes repeatedly report discussions regarding next steps with drug testing. Fascinating pattern as other governmental entities are daily chronicled for being broke, ignoring elicit affairs, illegally utilizing public funds, falsifying records...the list goes on. Our local school system just keeps plugging along, paying their bills, answering any questions asked of them (guess they haven't included blog answering on their daily list yet), publicly posting ALL achievement data, creating real opportunities for kids to shine in their areas of giftedness, and making unpopular personnel decisions (I'm sure they make some mistakes, but I admire the fact they do so without a public opinion poll). Maybe we could just get everybody together and take a popular vote about all decisions any governmental agency makes. We could call it the "Truth and Concern Model." Better yet, don't make any decisions! Most entities embrace this principle and the net effect is to establish time-honored meaningless bureaucracy. It is the reason American schools are lagging behind the rest of the world, it is the reason our municipal governments embrace the status quo constantly spending more money with fewer results. I wish ignorance explained your continued assaults. Unfortunately, you have proven you are savvy enough to keep up with local issues and news. The sadder possibility is that you have personal agenda to attack certain individuals and have chosen to do so from the cover of anonymity. I will continue to pray thay you are able to find some peace within. "The Truth will set you free..."

I forgot to point out the ridiculous nature of knowing where "all that money went." While we're at it, how many of the state's 1,800 schools "publish" where picture money (millions), ice cream money (millions), class ring money (millions), yearbook money (thousands), ... the list goes on. I can tell you how many schools follow that practice-ZERO. Again, are schools dishonest and hiding these funds? Of course not, and it is public information that can easily be requested. If you are convinced the current parking fees are being stolen or misused, ask for an accounting of them from the school principal.

Gongshow, irony is delicious and I am sure you would agree. Let us take a look at some of your chosen diction: "are to be prayed for", "ignorance", "assaults". As if I need to be prayed for. Rather than be conceited, you should take a look at your own remarks. While you argue that it is us who is ignorant and assaulting while under the cover of anonymity, you, too, are equally, if not more, ignorant and assulting under the cover of anonymity. Pot, meet Kettle. I am well aware of the decisions any official would have to make, be they without a direct poll or unpopular in nature. To say that I have a personal agenda against a particular person or group is risible. I am far more concerned with the Pennsylvania (my birth state) primary, or, better yet, making sure I have my AP homework complete. Even so, if I did, in an unlikely case, have a personal agenda with the issues surrounding Hall County, would you deem this unfit? The way I interpret your argument is that you find any opposition to the mainstream conventions to be personally threatening. And that is simply not the case for myself, or others, on this website. Such a quick defense, however, would lead me to ask more questions. The point being that questions of interest are not conflicting.

Also, I do not understand the logic in your comment on Tuesday, Apr 22, 2008 at 12:39 PM. You are essentially saying that it would be of a "ridiculous nature" to document where money flows to and fro. Yet I can assure you the school maintains careful records on yearbooks and an even more detailed fiscal budget. As for class rings, well, that is handled by Jostens, a company. And I highly doubt Jostens poorly or neglectfully maintain their records. Regardless, documents exists for a reason, and that reason is to provide a system of checks and balances. Did I ever make any statement directly accusing the parking fees of being stolen or misused? No. I am merely looking for the documents which should be associated with the money. Asking a question or making a remark regarding the distribution of funds should not harm you.

Nevertheless, I can appreciate some of your humor. Trust me when I say that comments such as these bring little attention to me once I am done with them. Due to my AP Language class, I am becoming increasingly interested and aware of rhetoric, which is why I sometimes dissect it.

The truth will set me free, true, but fear not, pour je suis libre.

Peace.

Will the schools be losing money if the gate receipts and parking permit money goes to drug testing? Don't the schools typically use those funds for school improvements or instructional programs? How will the schools make up for this lost revenue? The public needs both sides of the issue. Unfortunately, most of the time the public receives some carefully orchestrated quotes. Our children deserve better- they need carefully thought out decisions by stakeholders, not just a few making decisions for their resume or publicity.

Hey this is Frank. I have personally viewed suspicious looking behavior at the Gainesville High parking lot to make me "think" that something illegal is going on. I do know someone personally that was drawed into this behavior, and yes, drugs were involved. So perhaps what I viewed was not suspicious but actually the real deal. Where were the
parking lot monitors when this was happening? Oh yeah, sitting in there golf carts.

I am strongly in favor of testing not only athletes but school drivers who use the parking lots. I would not mind even random tests for people picking up students either.

Why pay more taxes when the people "in charge" should already be doing there job enforcing school issues such as drug enforcement. What does the local police housed at the school actually do?

I read a copy of a recent audit report for a school system to the south and it was very extensive. Not only did the 70 day study examine system records, the auditors also had reviewed the school accounts which include those mentioned as well as 40 or 50 more at most schools. If any of you have such an interest in a school's books, call the principal and ask to see them! Conductor, you make an interesting point, it is all about priorities. It would be nice to see some local business partners come forward to fund a drug prevention fund rather than more picnic tables and sweat shirts.

Oh, MG. Why slam business partners? They provide way more than sweatshirts and picnic tables. Most business partners provide their time and money to supplement the curriculum. They are some of the schools biggest supporters- and they do it for the kids.

Gongshow got it right. Over the last year there have been multiple meetings of teachers, parents, principals, administrators, coaches, athletic directors, law-enforcement and board members to discuss the county's drug testing policies. The objective of drug testing is not to catch a kid doing drugs. Rather the objective is to discourage drug use and to give kids yet another reason to "say no." And it works. Period. The incidence of test positives has dropped significantly since the program began. The recommendation to expand the program to drivers and other extracurricular activities will serve to further decrease drug use among our kids.

Sorry, Conductor. I certainly was not meaning to "slam" business partners. It appears they do whatever is asked of them, with a smile. I was simply suggesting if funding was an issue, maybe we could ask them to help out in this very important area as opposed to some others that may not be as important. Again, sorry.

Joshua - instead of coming on here acting like you are demanding records, "I want records, official and tangible documents, detailing the whereabouts and distributions of this income" why don't you try a new concept that I wonder if many people on this forum have thought about. How about quit being so ridiculous and just ask someone at the school what the parking fees fund. That is a novel idea, huh? I may be wrong but I think you have said in a previous comment that you are a high school student so I would think you wouldn't be "scared" like the others on here and "fear" for their job. Which, by the way, I think is absolutely ridiculous.

I also wanted to add that I find Hallconcern's comment "In the long run it is education that saves and improves lives though. Isn’t that what schools are about?" particularly amusing. As if only people who are uneducated make mistakes regarding drugs and other bad choices. Get a grip. Do some research...drug use has no boundaries- educated or uneducated, no racial boundaries, no sexual preference, no age preference. So, please think about what you post before you post it.

Upload a media file:
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You can upload photos and audio clips to your blog. All photos must be in .JPG format. Audio clips can be in any audio format, such as .WAV or .MP3. The file size cannot exceed 4 megs. Click the "?" link next to the media input for more information. I think this is getting too involved in the parent responsibility. The lady who got this started would not of benefited by this. Her child was on prescribed medication and abused them, the isssue was with the DR. who should of adviced her that he could develop an addiction to these meds and provided her with counseling and guidance not just a prescription. I have seen this in my own family, patient goes to DR. DR. writes a prescription for depression, anxiety, adhd, but does not monitor them and only fills in blanks for the follow ups and refills the meds. Fails to realize that they have developed an addiction, that they have lost 20 lbs that they don't know what day it is because they are on high from the meds. Anyway if you don't know, most of the abused prescription drugs will not show up in a drug screen, only the stimulants. But how do you determine which one of these kids are abusing there own medicine. What about all the kids that will test positive because they are ADHD and on stimulant drugs? These show up as amphetamines and I have seen kids wrongly accused of doing drugs because of this or their are ones who claim they are on ADHD meds but are really doing street drugs. How can a school monitor this? How many parents will take it for granted just because they think the school has checked. The issue goes further than the school.

School drug testing will never be a catch-all panacea. After all, some kids have been reported to seek a brief (and hopefully temporary) high by strangling themselves. No drug test will pick that one up. Conversely, if a legitimate drug shows up during testing and is explained by a doctor’s prescription, it should be overlooked.

The bottom line is, drug testing in schools is only one component in a regiment of due diligence necessities to reign in this problem. Short of the reasonable judgment and efforts of parents, teachers, coaches, councilors, and peers, drug testing will have limited success. But with all these things working in concert, I believe significant positive results could be realized.

In my opinion, Hallconcern is right in suggesting education is paramount. But Notsoconcerned is right too- drug use blurs the lines of social distinctions, including the level of education. Mr. Gill’s blog on this topic has drawn more comments than any I have seen recently and virtually every one of them has valid points. We may disagree on logistics, funding, or some other aspect, but we all seemingly agree on the importance of the issue. To that end, JJohnson cuts to the chase the best of all: “The objective of drug testing is not to catch a kid doing drugs. Rather the objective is to discourage drug use and to give kids yet another reason to "say no." And it works. Period". I agree.

Drug and alcohol addiction awareness is important. Education, parental involvement, vigilance on the part of coaches and teachers, and input from student peers, can all help fight this problem. But if I can presume the liberty of inference from JJohnson’s remarks, the “trust, but verify" approach seems equally essential. Personally, I don’t want my taxes to go up. But if they must to get this done…

So be it.

J.G.

Careful, John. People are going to start thinking you look at both sides of an issue :)

How about testing the school board members that came up with this.

Some of you sound so silly. I graduated from Gainesville High School a few years ago, and was disgusted by all of the drug and alcohol use. Many of the "important parents in town" would have been mortified to know that their precious children that could do nothing wrong were sneaking alcohol to school in coffee cups. Drug testing is a must! Do whatever it takes. Spend some of the money that is made on football games or special events. Get some of the overly wealthy parents of the students to help fund. I think people are just scared to find out which kids and how many really are on the drugs because it would hurt the parents reputation more than anything