Board Hears Progress Report on District 95 Student Drug Testing

Steps towards making a decision about randomly drug testing students at were discussed by the Board of Education at its Thursday night Committee of the Whole meeting.

A group of administrators and teachers from District 95 comprised of: Michael J. Egan, superintendent, Jim Burke, board member, Kathy Brown, board president, teacher representatives and building principals from District 95 met to provide an example to the board of what policies and procedures would look like if they went ahead and put drug testing in place.

“We are still coming up with a draft for the job description of a Student Assistance Program (SAP) Coordinator,” Egan explained to the board. “We are getting close.”

Hiring an SAP has been identified by the board as an important component of drug testing, by addressing drug and substance abuse within the district. The SAP would be a certified social worker and drug counselor having the ability to administer drug tests. The cost of hiring an SAP would be between $50,000 - $60,000 per year.

The board hasn't yet voted on whether or not drug testing would be administered to students who participate in activities, sports, and park on school grounds.

“We need to see specifics on how everything would work before we vote on it,” said Brown.

The group is working on drafting procedures for drug testing students who are involved in activities, sports, and park on school grounds, as well drafting an opt in procedure for parents who want their children randomly tested even if they don’t park on school grounds and are involved in sports and activities.

“We are just starting to look at this and it’s a daunting task,” said Egan.

He asked the board if the group should write procedures on hair testing or urine testing or both.

“I’d like to see them both,” said Brown.

In March, the Board sent out a survey to all parents in the district, asking them their opinion on drug testing.

The survey came back with 52 percent strongly support random drug testing at the high school, 20 percent said they somewhat support it, eight percent said they are somewhat against it, and 19 percent said they are strongly against it.

Questions about what consequences would happen if a student tests positive were raised.

“Currently if someone (student involved in sports) is caught under the influence there’s a series of consequences – they have to sit out games and practices, etc.” Egan explained. “Some of you (members of the Board) expressed you don’t want it to be punitive.”

Mike Finn, board member, brought up the inconsistency in policies for students involved in activities and sports versus students who just park on school property.

“If students in sports have consequences than we have to come up with consequences for those who park,” said Finn. “We are on a slippery slope.”

“I don’t want the focus of this to be punitive. But, I’m not against consequences,” said Burke.

Developing a procedure for drug testing is the last step before implementing it, but “it’s a large task and it will be a lengthy process,” said Brown

Everyone agreed that a separate board meeting to discuss the topic of drug testing would be needed when the procedures are written out.

Egan agreed to report on the group’s progress at the next Committee of the Whole Meeting on Thursday, May 12.