July 12, 2018
Vol. 19, No. 7
In This Issue ROUGH CUT SWISS
Rough Cut Swiss, in real life, is located in front of Othello’s Restaurant at the southwest corner of Main and Broadway, but this week it is hidden somewhere in our paper. Email contest@edmondpaper.com with the correct location to be entered in the weekly drawing. For more information see page 4.
A look back at Fourth celebration See Pages 12 & 13
FRIDAY, JULY 13 Mostly sunny High 94° Low 76°
SATURDAY, JULY 14 Mostly sunny High 96° Low 76°
SUNDAY, JULY 15 Mostly sunny High 97° Low 77°
By Steve Gust Edmond Public Schools officials voiced concerns of the possible impact of legal medical marijuana on thousands of high school students, and voted to expand the district’s random drug testing program. “I have great concern on medical marijuana and its effects on kids,” said Superintendent Bret Towne at this month’s regular meeting of the Edmond Board of Education. Oklahoma voters last week authorized medical marijuana in a statewide vote. His statement came after Board Member Jamie Underwood said the district should become more “proactive” in making sure the thousands of teens in Edmond high schools didn’t become involved with marijuana or other drugs. “I just don’t want students starting life off on the wrong foot,” Underwood said. As part of a proactive approach, the district will increase its random drug testing. The five member board OK’d a contract with The Compliance Resource Group Inc. That company will conduct an estimated 600 random tests during the upcoming school year. For $32 a test, the district will start testing about 75 students a month who are
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Superintendent Bret Towne involved in extracurricular activities. The 600 students tested, between September and April, will be twice what the district tested in recent years. Towne said budget cuts in recent years forced a cutback in the program. Now, with a healthier fiscal situation, the program is being expanded. Testing has proved effective, Towne said. He estimated only 2 to 3 percent of students tested positive for drug use. Member Cynthia Benson wondered if that low percentage of results was worth the money spent. The superintendent answered that testing was also a deterrent to drug use.
“This (testing) gives students a way to say ‘no’ to their peers,” he explained. Even before passage of medical marijuana June 26, Underwood said she had heard about “tales of the parking lots.” There, students would allegedly get together and experiment with drugs. She expressed her fears that medical marijuana, although intended for prescription usage only, could still lead to a proliferation of the substance at Edmond’s three high schools. Towne said a committee on school security is meeting this summer. It is his hope they can also beef up parking lot security. Towne wants to meet with high school and middle school principals to further look into the matter. Board members also were interested in having more police drug-sniffing dogs involved at the schools. Concerning testing, Towne said after the meeting that failing a first test doesn’t lead to automatic removal from a team or activity. Officials, he explained, work with the student and provide counseling. The student would be subjected to additional testing, and another positive test could lead to team or club suspension or expulsion.