JUNEAU -- High school athletes in Juneau will be subject to random drug tests under a new policy approved by the school board.

The policy approved Tuesday is in response to what some described as a teen drug "crisis" in Juneau, especially with the use of the prescription pain reliever OxyContin.

Among those testifying for the testing program were members of the Juneau-Douglas High School baseball team.

"There's been kids on our team that can't focus to play a game without using the drug before it," one player said.

"It's not just drugs and sports," a second player added. "It's throughout the halls, the classrooms, it's everywhere and out on the streets."

A task force investigated possible solutions and came up with several recommendations that were approved by the board this week.

The school district said it will begin testing this winter roughly 10 percent of its athletes each week for OxyContin, marijuana, opiates, cocaine, alcohol and tobacco. That works out to about 15 to 25 athletes per week, school district officials said.

Any athletes who test positive will be removed from their sport for the season and the school district will work with their families to assess and resolve the substance abuse, said district assistant superintendant Laury Scandling.

Following the board's recommendations, the district will also offer a voluntary, awards-based testing program to change the school culture and begin education and outreach programs for the community.

The school board directed the random testing program be implemented first while details on the other programs are worked out.

Superintendent Glenn Gelbrich said the testing program could start by the Nov. 30 beginning of the winter sports season. The requirement for testing will be included in the school district's mandatory code of conduct for athletes, created a decade ago.

Any athlete who refuses to sign the code of conduct or to participate in the testing will be barred from sports activities for that season, Scandling said.

Board president Mark Choate, a Juneau attorney, had expressed concern that a drug testing policy might violate state privacy laws, but said Tuesday he was swayed by public testimony.

The Sitka and Ketchikan school districts already have instituted random drug testing in their schools, and the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld tests of school athletes in the Lower 48, Scandling said.

More than 100 people attended recent public meetings in Juneau to discuss the drug problem in the schools. The district received nearly 1,000 e-mails from health care professionals, teachers and coaches, parents and many students. Most said drug use among teens is an emergency that requires attention, he said.

"This is a health and safety issue that is a crisis," Choate said. "So I believe we have established a need to take action. The task force gives us a very large goal to accomplish that we can do, but only with active participation from the entire community. It will take all of us to do it."

Daily News reporter Elizabeth Bluemink contributed to this story.

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