Students pass steroid testing with flying colors, By: Danielle Deaver

Local school officials not surprised that all 150 tested were negative

07-05-06

During the spring sports season, student athletes in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools had something to think about other than how well they would do on the field.

They also had to wonder whether they would be randomly selected for steroid testing.

The school system became one of the few in the country this year to test for steroids in addition to the more-typical seven-drug panel that includes such drugs as cocaine and alcohol.

When the results came in, all 150 or so students had tested negative for steroids, said Mina Cook, the program coordinator for It's My Call/It's Our Call and an employee of Unlimited Success, a division of Partnership for a Drug-Free N.C.

School officials said they weren't surprised.

"The national numbers we have been seeing have said that 10 percent of high-school athletes are involved with steroids. We figured we would probably be the same way, and 150 tests are probably not statistically that many," said Mike Nesser, the district's program specialist for Safe and Drug Free Schools.

School officials received a four-year, $800,000 grant from the federal government in October to expand the school system's drug-testing program. Every year, 30 percent of students involved in extracurricular activities are already randomly tested for six illegal drugs and alcohol.

The grant allowed the school system to start a separate program that includes steroids. Only student athletes are eligible for the testing.

Members of the Forsyth County school board wanted to test 1 percent to 2 percent of student athletes - or 200 to 300 students a year. Next year, they will test student athletes throughout the sports seasons. This year, the program began just before the spring season.

Next year, Nesser said, school officials also plan to step up education about steroids. In 2005-06, they worked with athletics directors, administrators and coaches. Now, they will add student education.

Nesser said he is not sure whether steroid testing will continue after the grant money is gone.

"At $120 a test - and it will probably go up from there - it can be cost-prohibitive," he said. "It would probably depend on whether we start to see a problem."