The West Windsor-Plainsboro school district has agreed to participate in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s pilot program for steroid drug-testing.##M:[more]##
Random steroid drug testing for athletes around the state is nothing new — actually, it was mandated by law and went into effect for the 2006-’07 school year. But while the NJSIAA currently performs random drug tests on athletes participating in state tournaments after the completion of their games, this new pilot program is aimed at creating less of a burden for athletes who are chosen for the tests just minutes after the game.
Athletic director Marty Flynn said the pilot program was a “step in the right direction” and the NJSIAA did a good job in evaluating last year’s testing process and addressing the flaws involved.
Said Flynn: “I think they understood they didn’t want to intrude into a celebration of a win. On the same token, they don’t want to intrude into a moment after a hard-fought defeat.”
Bob Baly, assistant director at the NJSIAA, said that the NJSIAA has asked school districts to participate in the pilot program by agreeing to allow drug testers to come to the schools several days before a tournament game to test the athletes, he said.
Drug tests have been administered by an independent agency, Drug-Free Sport, which sends a testing team to NJSIAA. “It’s a very professionally-done, rigorous protocol,” says Baly.
That will not change, he says. Rather the site and time of the tests are the only differences. “Instead of having it after a game, when athletes are tired and dehydrated, [we’ll do it] several days before.” Baly said he couldn’t say which sports the NJSIAA will be testing — to avoid giving student athletes a heads-up — but he did say that not all sports will be part of the pilot program.
Athletes who currently test positive for steroid use after their games are prohibited from playing sports for one whole year, and they must enter a counseling program. Whole teams are not penalized because of one individual’s test. The rules will work in the same manner for athletes testing positive under this new pilot program, Baly said.
And athletes do have means of appeal. They can first go to a doctor to see if there is a medical reason for the positive reading. They can opt to have two samples taken and later appeal to have the second sample tested.
One school board member, however, expressed reservations about the idea of entering into the pilot during the November 6 meeting. Stan Katz said he didn’t see how the program could be effective by having the athletes tested up to a week before their games. He said he also had a general issue with the idea of random drug testing.
Baly insists random drug tests are necessary. While only one out of 500 athletes in the state tested positive last year, it’s still a major issue. “We’re hoping the program is a deterrent,” Baly said. “We’re not looking to catch kids — we’re looking to deter them.”
Said Flynn: “We agree here in the district and administratively in the coaching staff that it’s a deterrent. Those performance enhancing drugs are out there.”
When asked if any district athletes have tested positive for steroid use, he said he could not give details due to confidentiality, but said “we really have not had serious issues with it throughout the state or the district. But it makes sense in a lot of perspectives — social, emotional, and physical — and is much better to be done beforehand in a more private setting.”
In other business on November 6, the board approved $17,”700 for training 10 teachers for the Reading Recovery program. According to Superintendent Victoria Kniewel, the international program is targeted to students who are having trouble reading.
“The idea is to give them this one-on-one reading instruction so they don’t need remedial help in the future,” Kniewel said. “It’s for first-graders who are targeted as being in need of reading instruction” to prevent that from happening. Training is provided through the Bridgewater-Raritan Regional Board of Education.
The school board also approved a state-mandated harassment, intimidation, bullying, and hazing policy and on November 20 approved the high school program of studies. The revised program of studies for the 2008-’09 school year includes three new courses — Honors Spanish Cultural Studies, Student Research in the Humanities, and Student Research in the Sciences. — Cara Latham
