Random Drug Testing For Oak Creek High School Students Considered

OAK CREEK, WI — The Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School district is holding two public hearings in the next week over a proposal to to submit select Oak Creek High School students to random drug testing.

The proposed policy would randomly test high school students who participate in athletics, co-curricular activities and students with parking permits.

According to district documents, the purpose of the random drug tests for select students is to help direct students away from drug and alcohol use, while identifying users of drugs and alcohol so that the appropriate interventions happen.

According to an Oak Creek-Franklin policy draft dated Nov. 27, the policy states that the District

"will test for the presence of certain substances which may include, but are not limited to, the following: alcohol, metabolites of nicotine, marijuana, opiates, cocaine, amphetamines, performance enhancers, phencyclidine (PCP), or any other substance which is defined as a controlled substance by the Uniform Controlled Substance Act, Wis. Stat. S.961.001 et seq. and as subsequently amended, unless that substance has been taken pursuant to a legal prescription."

Under the proposal, a student with a parking permit who tests positive will have their parking permit revoked for the remainder of the school year and lose their parking fee. A student in athletics or co-curricular activities is subject to the district's activities or athletic code.

That code states that

"A participant who purchases, possesses, uses, delivers, or attempts to deliver, distributes or sells controlled substances, as defined in Wisconsin State Statutes will be temporarily or permanently excluded from the activity. The same applies to possession or use of drug paraphernalia or the improper use of legal substances." Similar language also applies to participants who purchases or uses tobacco or alcoholic beverages.

How To Go:

Public Hearing On Random Drug Testing For High School Participants In Athletics, Co-curricular Activities and Students With Parking Permits

Thursday, November 30, 2017 6:00 p.m. and also Tuesday, December 5, 2017 6:00 p.m.

9th Grade Center at Oak Creek High School
Cafeteria
8640 S Howell Avenue
Oak Creek, WI 53154

Patch.com photo by Scott Anderson