DRUG TESTING WEIGHED
CCSD considers student monitoring

Principal Lynn Newcomer displays the proposed testing equipment.

Students who participate in extracurricular activities at Cameron County High School could soon find themselves subjected to urine tests to detect use of alcohol and other drugs.

School board members at this month's meeting announced that they're poised to take action at their Thursday, Jan. 3 public meeting on a proposed drug testing policy.

Athletes, musicians and other students participating in extracurricular activities would be subject to random urine tests to

detect the presence of marijuana, alcohol, amphetamines, opiates, steroids and other drugs.

Only "activity students" in grades 7-12 would be subjected to the random testing. U.S. Supreme Court rulings prohibit testing of the entire school population. However, the proposed policy allows for testing at the request of parents, even for those students who are not involved in activities.

Additionally, school officials can refer an activity student for testing if they have "reasonable suspicion" that he or she may be involved in drug use.

Studies confirm that school districts with drug testing programs in place have seen the average number of students using drugs decrease by as much as 80 percent.

No recording of test results would be placed on any student's permanent record. Sanctions for those who test positive would include an immediate 14-day suspension from extracurricular activities. Parents would be notified and the violator would be referred for evaluation and counseling.

Repeat offenders would get an eight-week suspension and be required to undergo drug and alcohol counseling at their own expense.

"Activity students are representatives of the school district and the community-atlarge and the district recognizes them as role models for other students who frequently model their own conduct on examples set by those students," according to the proposed policy. "Thus, when a student chooses to participate in activities, he or she has also chosen to be a role model, and with that choice comes the responsibility of living a drugand alcohol-free lifestyle.

"The district recognizes that drugs and alcohol have a serious and deleterious effect on motivation, memory, judgment, reaction time, coordination, and performance, and that continued or long-term usage of these substances can compound these problems and affect the user academically, physically, and emotionally."

If the policy passes, Cameron County Area School District intends to contract with Redwood Biotech Substance Abuse Screening to perform the tests.