The Greenwood School Board has planned an out-of-town retreat in order to discuss proposed student drug testing plus current district policies covering illegal drug use.
"We are going to meet, and we are going to hammer it out until we get a policy," said Margaret Clark, president., who proposed the weekend meeting during a work session Thursday at the district's central office.
"We need to come out of there with a policy. We are talking about a policy that is going to cover the whole district."
Members agreed on dates - Friday and Saturday, March 24 and 25, but did not set a location, saying only that they would meet somewhere between Jackson and Memphis. The board specifically decided against meeting in Greenwood.
The board's attorneys will be asked to attend, and the district's administrators may be present.
The district's business manager, Steve Loden, said after the meeting he could not estimate the cost until he knew more about the accommodations and the length of stay - one night or two?
The board did not take a vote. Work sessions are public meetings, and the board uses each work session to prepare an agenda for the next school board meeting. This month, the meeting will be at 5:15 p.m. Tuesday at Bankston Elementary School.
At last month's board meeting, a motion to adopt a drug policy failed for the lack of a second. No one discussed the proposal, which was written, and amended according to board members' specifications, by School Board Attorney Richard Oakes.
Board members also did not talk about the proposal in detail during their January work session.
Clark said she received a number of complaints from parents. "They were real upset because we did not pass the policy - because we need one," she said.
Thursday, Debbie Oxnam asked questions about the wording of the proposed testing policy, saying she wanted to make sure its meaning is clear.
The current proposal would require all Greenwood High School and Greenwood Middle School students who participate in extracurricular activities, including sports and clubs, to agree to be subject to random drug testing. The district would hire a company to handle the selection and the testing.
Results would be confidential, but students with positive tests would face consequences such as required counseling and suspension from extracurricular activities.
Superintendent Les Daniels said he wants the board to look at a drug-testing policy covering the whole district.
Board member Jimmy Dale Carter spoke in support of adopting a policy. "A lot of students need a reason not to, and the drug policy might be a reason not to."
The board also looked at the district administration's plan to make up a school day lost to Hurricane Katrina.
Daniels said he will ask the board Tuesday to approve extending school days by 30 minutes a day to compensate for the lost time. The schools have been planning to use the extra time for standardized test preparation.
Both Oxnam and Clark objected to the plan, saying they think taking a full day would be better.
Loden said a makeup day would $23,093 in extra pay to non-certified personnel.
He explained that these workers already were paid for the day they missed by the order of Gov. Haley Barbour.
Teachers are required to work 180 days and would not receive extra pay.
