Pubdate: Thu, 01 Aug 2002
Source: Tribune Review (PA)
Copyright: 2002 Tribune-Review Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://triblive.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/460
Author: Maureen O. Byko
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)

SENECA VALLEY LIKELY TO EXPAND DRUG TESTING

While the drug testing that begins next week applies only to Seneca Valley 
students who want to participate in athletics or get a district parking 
pass, students who participate in nonathletic extracurricular activities 
should expect the same testing in the future.

As much as the law permits, the testing likely will be expanded, Matt 
McKinley, principal of Seneca Valley Senior High School, told about 125 
parents and students at an informational meeting Tuesday about the new program.

McKinley said the district is basing its drug-testing policy on legality. 
The courts upheld school districts' rights to test student athletes and 
drivers before the district started its program. The U.S. Supreme Court 
more recently extended the districts' rights to require drug testing of any 
students who participate in extracurricular activities.

"There's no doubt we will add extracurricular activities in the future, 
probably next year," McKinley said. "There is a problem in this school 
district we want to attack. That's why we have taken this route."

Beginning next week, student athletes and drivers will come to the school 
to provide a urine sample to workers from Sport Safe Testing Service Inc. 
of Powell, Ohio, which received a contract from the school district. A 
schedule of who should be tested, and when, was sent to homes of district 
residents last week.

To collect the samples, workers will prepare restrooms by taking steps to 
ensure that students do not try to cheat the system, said Matthew Franz, 
director of operations for Sport Safe. For example, they will tape off soap 
dispensers and faucets so specimens cannot be diluted. Workers will be 
posted in the restrooms to collect the samples from students, but students 
will go into the stalls alone to urinate into plastic cups, he said.

The samples will be split into two containers at that time, each labeled 
with the student's identification number. That way, if families are unhappy 
with the results of the test, they can request the second sample for 
outside testing.

The samples will be sent to a laboratory for analysis, with only the 
student identification number on the sample to protect the student's 
identity, Franz said. The company is working with Quest Diagnostics 
drug-testing service on Route 19 in Cranberry to analyze the samples. The 
lab reports will be sent to Sport Safe, where a doctor will analyze the 
findings. If a test is positive for any of 10 drugs covered in the screen, 
including alcohol and opiates, the doctor will call the student's parents 
to discuss possible reasons for those results. If prescription drugs are 
the cause, the parents will need to send a copy of the prescription to the 
doctor as proof.

Franz said the lab analysis is so thorough that the doctor probably will 
know if a prescription drug is involved. The analysis provides the 
molecular structure of the drugs found and looks for quantities to be 
present that would be impossible to ingest unintentionally, such as the 
presence of marijuana through secondhand smoke.

"There are no false positives," he said.

The test also reveals the presence of substances students might have taken 
to mask the presence of drugs or alcohol in their urine. Products sold in 
nutrition stores or on the Internet promise to help people pass drug tests. 
Franz said Seneca Valley's program will test for 17 such products. If one 
is found, the student will be considered to have tested positive for drugs.

After the initial round, students still are subject to further testing. As 
long as they participate in their sport or continue to drive to school, 
they could be subject to random testing, which could be for the 10 drugs 
tested previously or for other drugs, such as steroids, LSD and Ecstasy. 
That testing will be done weekly to a small group of students, McKinley 
said. And it could occur on weekends, when a student might be asked to come 
to the school to provide a urine sample.

"We have to test on Saturdays and Sundays because that's when the parties 
are," McKinley said. Students will not have to pay for the random testing.

They will have to pay $26 for the first test.

Students who test positive will lose 14 days of their activity or parking 
privileges and must attend drug counseling at an approved facility.

"We want to get the student in the hands of the experts," McKinley said.

They also must submit five weekly urine specimens at their own expense.

The offense remains on a student's record for six years. So if a first 
offense occurs in seventh grade and a second in 11th grade, that second 
offense still will bring a higher level of punishment, McKinley said.

For the second offense, a student is not allowed to participate in the 
athletic activity or to drive to school for a full year. The third offense 
brings a permanent ban from participating in the sport or from driving.

The first offense can be expunged from a student's record if the student 
agrees to be tested for 12 consecutive months at his own expense and to 
meet other requirements that include counseling, McKinley said.

Feelings were mixed among parents at the Tuesday meeting. The audience 
applauded loudly when one woman thanked the school board for its attempt to 
curb Seneca Valley's drug problem, and some parents asked about having 
children tested who were not participating in athletics or driving. Others 
expressed concern about the invasion of their children's privacy and the 
effect on younger students for being pulled out of a class for a random 
drug test.
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