Random drug testing to begin at Jones High School next year

By JUSTIN SCHOENBERGER

Freedom ENC

TRENTON - Next year, students at Jones Senior High School will have to submit to random drug testing if they participate in sports and other extracurricular activities.

The drug screening will be required under a policy adopted by the Jones County Board of Education to complement the code of conduct already in place. The policy will apply to all extracurricular activities, including school-sponsored and student-initiated clubs.

Guardians of students who do not participate in extracurricular activities will be permitted to enroll their son or daughter in the drug-screening program if they choose.

The board said the policy was necessary in light of the documented sale, possession and use of illegal drugs by Jones County students.

According to the policy, students and their parents must sign a written consent to drug testing before the student engages in an activity, including try-outs. Random tests -ordered by the central office administration - will be conducted while the students are involved with the function.

The school system will contract with an authorized drug test administrator for sample collection, sample testing and test verification by a medical review officer. The policy says that sample collection will take place under "reasonable and sanitary conditions" and will maintain student privacy and dignity.

If a student decides to contest a positive reading, the result will have to be confirmed by a "scientifically valid confirmatory test," which, like the original test, would come at the expense of the school system.

According to the policy, if drugs are found in a student's body, he or she may not participate in any extracurricular activities for three school months.

A student's second offense will result in a calendar year-long suspension; the third means the end of the student's high school club, debate, band or athletic career. The policy says this is the only disciplinary action that can be taken against a student testing positive for illegal drugs.

"The policy came as a result of board interest in protecting health and safety of the students in JCPS," Superintendent Michael Bracy said. "The board began researching what other counties were doing and what would work best for Jones County public schools.  

Parents and students will be given the opportunity to explain a positive result to the medical review officer before the information is passed to school authorities.

"School employees shall not notify law enforcement officials of test results," the policy says, and all records of the tests will be confidential, maintained in files separate from discipline records and other student records.  

Dare, Greene and Pamlico county schools have all adopted similar policies in the last year - a possible prelude to the statewide random drug screening discussed in 2008 by the N.C. General Assembly.