Mooresville Schools To Start Drug Testing Students In Fall

MOORESVILLE, NC — Middle and high school students who participate in sports or park on school campus will be subjected to random drug tests, the Mooresville Graded School District voted Tuesday night. The new policy, aimed at curbing drug abuse among students in the district, will go into effect with the new academic year in August.

“There is a problem of alcohol and drug abuse among Mooresville Graded School District students,” the policy said, adding that the initiative follows similar measures being put in place at other school districts in North Carolina.

The new policy applies to 7th through 12th grade students that park on campus or participate in interscholastic athletics or other voluntary competitive extracurricular activities that are deemed “a privilege, not a right.”

Participation in the random drug testing is not a condition for attending school and any parent may elect to have their child participate in the random screening, even if they’re not enrolled in the extracurricular activities.

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According to school officials, students who test positive for alcohol or drugs will not be suspended or passed on to law enforcement, and will not be penalized academically.

How Testing Will Be Conducted

According to the policy, the testing will be done “as frequently as possible during the academic year” by an independent agency contracted by Mooresville Graded School District. No school district employees, such as teachers, will assist in collecting samples, have access to the samples or select the students chosen for random testing.

Students will be pulled out of class for testing by school officials, who will also notify the student’s parents or guardians about the testing after it occurs. The tests will require a urine specimen.

Should a student decide to cut class and leave campus on the day of drug testing, however, they “shall be considered as having refused to be tested,” the policy said.

Results of the test will be confidential.

What Happens Next?

Should a student test positive, the results will be reported to parents, as well as to school officials and the extracurricular activity sponsor, such as a coach. The student will then be banned from extracurricular activities for a calendar year unless they agree to participate in a substance abuse education program and passes a retest done at the student’s family expense.

A copy of the policy members of the Mooresville Graded School District passed may be found here.

What do you think about this new policy? Sound off in the comment section!

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