By Staff Writers Lynn Arbid and Shreya Narayan

During an  Oct. 7 board meeting, Bob Ross, Assistant Superintendent for Secondary Education, updated the Board of Education on progress made on possible drug testing for high school students.

If the Board of Education decides to carry through with a testing program, only students covered by the co-curricular code  (on page 93 of the student handbook) would be mandated to take part in testing, according to Ross. The program is still in the research phase.

“I don’t know if we will, but we could legally say ‘submit yourself to this test or you can’t be in marching band or baseball,’” said Ross.

According to NNHS Athletic Director Jim Konrad, during the annual co-curricular review board meeting in February 2013, a coach presented the idea of mandatory drug testing for all students who participate in co-curricular activities, compelling the district to explore this option. A committee that includes Ross, other administrators at the district office, and the high school principals and athletic directors was then formed to investigate the options.

However, there are privacy concerns with drug testing at the high schools. Legally, students have a right to academic education without a requirement of testing for drugs, according to Ross.

“[Drug use] is a very complicated issue,” said Ross. “It’s not a problem that has easy answers. I wish it did. It’s very possible we won’t have the tests at all.”

Ross said the district’s attorneys have advised the committee that it is possible to mandate testing of those students involved in co-curricular code activities. If the district decides to enact a testing policy, any student who refused to submit to mandatory testing would not be allowed to participate in the activity.

Ross said one of the ideas that has arisen in their research is to institute a voluntary testing program instead of a mandatory one. In this scenario, parents could opt to enroll their students in a program wherein they might be tested.

“The negative [of voluntary testing] would be we might not be testing as many people. We might not be getting those benefits for as many people,” said Ross.

According to Konrad, if a policy is adopted, the parents would pay a fee, usually around $30 to $40, when they sign their student up for voluntary testing. If they are unable to pay or are mandated to take the test because of co-curricular activities, the district would work out a payment plan.

Ross has been meeting with many vendors including Psychemedics, OraSure Technologies, Sport Safe, and ToxiLogic to learn the logistics of the testing process.

“There are a number of [vendors] out there,” said Ross. “If we went forward, we would consider all vendors not just these. I talked to these to get some information.”

According to Ross, the committee is currently exploring numerous methods of testing including, hair samples, saliva swabs, and urine samples.

“There is a question about whether or not it’s appropriate for a school district to do this,” said Ross. “There are privacy concerns, as in should we be testing at all.”

In an emailed statement to the North Star, NNHS Principal Kevin Pobst said he has mixed feelings about drug testing.

“The primary authority relationship in a student’s life should be with his or her parent,” Pobst said. “The exception to that general principle is when the student’s behavior affects their life at school. Whether that would be the case with a drug-testing scheme or not, would depend on the details of the proposal.”

Konrad believes the testing would help students make good choices.

“Every day a kid waits to use [drugs], the less likely they are to abuse drugs. That’s just a fact,” said Konrad.

In addition to drug testing, NNHS is also working on implementing more preventive methods such as educational programs and Rise Above, a support group led by Konrad for those opposed to drugs.

“For as long as I can remember, school districts have had a strong anti-drug message because we want to encourage students to make healthy decisions,” said Ross.

Ross said that a recommendation will be given to the Board of Education by winter break. The final decision lies with the Board of Education.

“This would likely require board policy, which only the board can approve through a vote,” Ross said. “In practice staff would work with attorneys to write a proposed policy, on which the board would have a discussion before voting. During that discussion, of course, there could be modifications to the proposed policy.”

More information, as well as the board meeting at which this topic was publicly discussed, is available here.