Decision Regarding Mandatory Drug Testing Lingers

Lake Zurich Community Unit School District 95 is in the process of hiring a Student Assistance Program coordinator to implement a drug education program, but the decision to start a mandatory drug testing program has not yet been made.

The hiring of the Student Assistance Program, or SAP,  coordinator, along with comments from a parent, precipitated a discussion about the mandatory drug testing issue at the District 95 Board's Committee of the Whole meeting May 12.

In November, Lake Zurich High School Principal Kim Kolze and Social Worker Barbara Belke presented the idea of hiring the SAP coordinator as part of the mandatory drug testing program.

The board subsequently approved hiring the SAP coordinator. Superintendent Michael J. Egan said the position has been advertised.

“We are currently looking for someone who is certified and can come to us with a plan to facilitate education at our middle schools and high school about drug prevention,” said Egan.

The board has not made any decisions, however, about implementing mandatory random drug testing, which would include testing students involved in athletics or extra-curricular activities. Students who park on campus could also be randomly tested.

During public comment, parent Keith Petropoulos addressed the board with concerns about the random drug testing issue.

“I’ve attended the Ela Coalition meetings and the Lake Zurich chief of police said himself that there aren’t drug problems in Lake Zurich,” he said. “So why do you want to drug test the students when there is no problem?”

In March, District 95 sent out a survey to parents specifically asking about mandatory random drug testing.

The survey results showed that 52 percent of respondents said they strongly support random drug testing at the high school, 20 percent said they somewhat support it, 8 percent said they are somewhat against it and 19 percent said they are strongly against it.

The survey also asked to choose between two ways the testing could be administered, by a urine sample or a hair sample. Parents were also asked to choose whether the testing be administered by trained and certified District 95 personnel, or by contracting with a trained and certified outside company.

The results of the survey were as follows:

• 33 percent said they strongly support urine testing either by District 95 personnel or an outside company.

• 24 percent said they somewhat support testing by District 95 personnel.

• 27 percent said they somewhat support contracting with an outside company.

“The statistics you have collected are pathetic,” said Petropoulos. “You may have the power to proceed, but you don’t have the right.”

After reviewing the data collected by the survey, the board asked the administration to come up with a policy and procedures for mandatory random drug testing.

“My take away was that there were several of us that wanted to get a full understanding of what those procedures would look like before we made a decision,” said Board President Kathy Brown.

“We can come up with a procedure but we need a direction if this is going to be in the context within our current code of conduct or not,” said Egan.

The board has been split as to whether they want consequences for a student who is caught using drugs via drug testing or just using drug testing as a deterrent.

According to Egan, in District 95’s code of conduct, there are specific consequences for students caught using drugs and/or alcohol.

The board agreed to hold a separate meeting, possibly in June, to discuss the matter further.

“The public is welcome to attend the meeting,” said Brown.