A group of about 75-80 concerned parents, teachers and administrators converged on the campus of Jacksonville High School Wednesday night to discuss the school board’s newly adopted Student Competitive Extracurricular Activities Drug Testing Policy. The majority noted they were in favor of the policy, however, they had numerous questions about the particulars of just what would be expected of the students and how the testing system would work. “We are living in a time of great change, in our world, in our economy, in science and medicine” said Superintendent Eric Mackey, reading from a prepared statement. “Yet some things endure — courage and compassion, reverence and integrity, respect for difference in faith and race. The values we try to live by never change. And they are instilled in us by fundamental institutions, such as families and schools and religious congregations. These institutions, these unseen pillars of civilization, must remain strong in America, and we will defend them. We must stand with our families to help the raise healthy, responsible children. When it comes to helping children make right choices, there is work for all of us to do.
“One of the worst decisions our children can make is to gamble their lives and futures on drugs. We are helping parents confront this problem with aggressive education, treatment and law enforcement. Drug use in high school has declined by 11 percent over the last two years. Four hundred thousand fewer young people are using illegal drugs than in the year 2001. In my budget, I proposed we have an aggressive, community-based strategy to reduce demand for illegal drugs. Drug testing in our schools has proven to be an effective part this effort.
“The aim here is not to punish children, but to send them this message: We love you and we don’t want to lose you.”
Met with roaring applause from the crowd, Mackey admitted that these eloquent words were not his. They actually came from President George W. Bush’s 2004 State of The Union Address.
“I have been accused by various factions of the community,” noted Mackey, “of bowing to the President and to the Republican party’s agenda. That is not true. We just happen to agree on this issue.
During his address, Bush set aside $23 million to help high schools across the nation implement drug testing policies.”
With that money available, Mackey and the school board began working, less than two years ago, on the drug policy that was finally approved just before Christmas.
The policy calls for all students who participate in competitive extracurricular activities, i.e. sports, cheerleading, debate team, etc., as well as those students who take advantage of the privilege of driving a vehicle on school property and parking that vehicle on school property, to submit to random drug tests at various intervals throughout the school year.
The objectives of the policy include:
•to create and maintain a safe, drug-free environment for student;
•to encourage any student with a dependence on, or addiction to, alcohol or other drugs to seek help in overcoming the problem;
•to reduce the likelihood of incidents of accidental personal injury to students and/or damage to property;
•to minimize the likelihood that school property will be used for illicit drug activities;
•to protect the reputation of the school system and its students; and
•to undermine the efforts of peer pressure by providing a legitimate reason for students to refuse the use of prohibited substances.
“Again,” reaffirmed Mackey, “this is not about trying to catch kids or punishing kids. I hope we never catch a kid.
“In fact, we are using this as a form of reverse positive peer pressure.”
Mackey noted that studies of this kind of drug testing policy at other institutions have shown dramatic declines in drug use and in students experimenting with drugs. He pointed out that the policy in place in Shelby County, one of the systems the board studied while preparing their policy, has not had one positive drug test during the three years the policy has been in existence.
While many people might find this news startling and suggest it shows the policy does not accomplish what it was designed to do, Mackey had a different take on it.
“To me,” added Mackey, “that shows how successful this policy can be. We are not looking to catch kids making the wrong choices, we are hoping this policy will keep them from making that choice in the first place.
“My feeling on the matter is that, if we can keep one child from trying drugs for the first time, then the program is a success.”
Lori Tippets, school board chair and a vocal proponent of the policy told the gathered crowd that Mackey never approached them with designs of finding a way to round up all the students who may be doing drugs.
“Dr. Mackey truly cares about the students,” said Tippets. “He told us he wanted a drug policy at the high school in hopes of keeping even one child from starting on drugs. He loves all the children in this community. Their health and their futures are as important to him as his own.
“It is important to him that we do everything we possibly can to make sure that your child and your child and your child are all safe and have the opportunity to be the best they can possibly be.”
A few of the things that confused parents the most about the policy are how the students will be selected for testing, why they chose to narrow their scope on only those who drive or participate in competitive activities, and whether or not this is a violation of the children’s fourth amendment right (The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons of things to be seized).
“Is drug testing a violation of your fourth amendment rights?” said Dr. Donald Casey, addressing the crowd concerning the policy. “The courts have agreed, without a doubt, that it is a clear violation of your rights. With that said, however, the Supreme Court decided in 1988 that the good of many far outweighs the right of the very few to always be impaired. That decision led to the federal drug testing laws that we work under now.”
Casey, employed Southern Family Practices and Occupational Medicine, who is overseeing the drug testing policy for the school system, is the medical review officer for the program. Casey has been involved with the testing procedures for over 30 years now, and actually got his start as one of the first testers in the military.
“All of our collectors are trained in accordance with the guidelines set aside by the Department of Transportation’s regulations,” noted Casey. “The process has been so refined over the years and so narrowed by the courts in the area of even the most minute detail, that there is no room for error.”
Casey explained that the same court decision that allows schools to test students for illegal substances, has also limited the scope of that testing to only include those students participating in extracurricular activities of a competitive nature, as well as those who drive to school.
“That is the reason why the system is limited in who they can test,” explained Casey. “Federal law will not allow them to test the other students, so the question of how fair it is that these kids are singled out is really a moot point.
“They are singled out because they are the only ones within the guidelines and testing parameters set aside by federal law.”
According to Casey, the school system will supply him with a list of all students involved in the program. That list goes directly into a data base with information pertaining to addresses, phone numbers and who their parents are.
“The school contacts me and says we want to test this many kids on this date,” explained Casey. “I go to the computer, type in the number of test subjects I need and the computer spits out a random list of names to be tested.”
Casey explained that trained collectors in his organization conduct the testing, in a private bathroom location on school grounds. One at a time, the students will be required to go into the bathroom, having removed their extra, outer clothing (jackets, coats, hats, etc.), wash their hands, and then provide a specimen of urine. The specimen has to measure 45 milliliters.
After the specimen is collected, the 45ml is divided into two separate bottles (one 30 ml and one 15 ml) and then sealed in bottles and bags. The specimens are then sent to the lab for testing of the 30 ml bottle only. If a positive test is uncovered, the parents are notified and can ask for a re-test. The additional 15 ml of the specimen is then sent to a second lab for a second test. If it comes back as positive then the school is notified and disciplinary actions taken.
“We have a multitude of safety checks and precautions in place to make sure there are no mix-ups with the specimens,” noted Casey. “This procedure is 100 percent safe.”
Casey noted that only after the parents are notified and the second test has been conducted, will school officials be contacted.
The first positive test results in the student losing their ability to participate in any extracurricular activities outlined by the policy, including driving to school, for 45 days. To be reinstated, the student must pass another drug test at the end of the suspension period and complete a drug abuse education course.
A second test results in a suspension of 120 days, with the same reinstatement procedures in place.
“We do not have a death penalty phase here,” explained Mackey. “The students will not be stopped from competing for good, but each subsequent positive tests holds a 120 day suspension.”
Another factor that school officials hope will deter students from doing drugs is the fact that the drug course and the re-instatement test are conducted at the parents cost, and both carry a rather hefty price tag.
“Another thing to understand about the policy is that it is cumulative,” added Mackey. “If you test positive in the seventh grade and are clean until your senior year, but test positive in your senior year, that is still your second offense and carries a 120 day suspension.”
At the end of the students high school career, however, those records are tossed out and do not follow the student later in life, as some school records do.
The three hour marathon question and answer session by parents helped to uncover a few kinks in the system’s policy, including a need to narrow the list of tested substances (only nine substances are actually on the list of things that the school tests for, and, thus far, tobacco is not a part of that listing).
“We will iron out all the wrinkles and get a copy of the revised policy to all parents prior to ever testing anyone,” noted Mackey. “If anyone else has questions that they wish to have clarified or commented upon, they can contact the school or superintendent’s office and we will be glad to go over the policy with them.
“We want to make sure that everyone is aware of what we are doing and why we are doing it, so there will be no confusion. This policy is intended to lead to a more positive environment for the students at Jacksonville High School, so we will do whatever we need to in-order to create that environment.”
