SCHOOLS Parent pushes for drug tests

A school apparel policy is also being considered.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Sandy Conti isn't sure when her first son started taking drugs, but she knows her second son, Nicholas, started in the ninth grade.
"He smoked pot and took his first OxyContin in the ninth grade," she said. He went on to take cocaine, crack, heroin and other drugs and at age 18 was considered a full-blown drug addict, she said.
After spending time in four rehabilitation centers and one halfway house, he is, at age 19, considered to be recovering, she said.
Conti's eldest son, Michael Mikkanen, wasn't so lucky.
He had plans
She said he admitted to her in April 2003 that he was addicted to heroin after the family discovered large amounts of money missing. Conti said they believed he got help and appeared to be moving in the right direction with a job, girlfriend and plans to join the Army.
Then he relapsed and was arrested after a string of business robberies in which a machete was used to threaten store clerks. The next day he was found dead in his jail cell. Authorities say he hanged himself.
"That was very hard for me," Conti told the New Castle School Board on Wednesday. "He was the bandit and the next day he was dead. We shouldn't have lost him, and we did."
Conti was present to advocate for a proposed school drug testing policy in the district. School board members are expected to consider it at next week's board meeting.
Mandatory test
The policy would require all pupils in sports, extracurricular activities and those who want parking permits to undergo a mandatory drug test at the beginning of the school year and also have random testing the rest of the school year.
The district would also have the ability to test anyone it has a reasonable suspicion of using drugs or alcohol, said Robert Razzano, assistant high school principal who chaired the drug testing policy committee. The proposed policy does have consequences that range from suspension to expulsion, but it also involves treatment.
"Our goal is intervention. We want to help," he said.
Razzano said the district expects to spend about $26 per student or $34,000 per year on the estimated 600 to 700 seventh-through-12th-graders to be tested. He said there are drug-prevention grants that could defray some of the costs.
"But what value do you place on a young person who may have 60 or 70 more years of living?" Razzano said. "The $34,000 pales in comparison. Even if it we save just one, it's all worth it."
Dress code
Along with the drug testing policy, the district is also considering a school apparel policy.
The pupils would be required to wear black or khaki-colored pants along with shirts that include an "NC" logo in colors of red, black, gray and white. The tops would include polo shirts, crew-neck shirts, mock turtlenecks, sweatshirts, sweaters and sweater vests. The policy would also dictate that skirts and shorts be no more than three inches above the knee.
Mark Elisco, George Washington Intermediate School assistant principal, said the policy is intended to improve school safety, attendance and bridge the socioeconomic differences between children.
Elisco said the parents would be responsible for buying the clothes, which will be available through the school or a local vendor. There will be some financial assistance for those who need it, he said.
Schools Superintendent George Gabriel said school board members will discuss both policies at Monday's caucus meeting. Gabriel said he hopes to have both policies in place by the start of the 2004-2005 school year.
cioffi@vindy.com