Pubdate: Sun, 09 Apr 2006
Source: Monterey County Herald (CA)
Copyright: 2006 Monterey County Herald
Contact:  http://www.montereyherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/273
Author: Clarissa Aljentera,  Herald Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Test)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

TRUSTEES LOOK AT DRUG-TEST PROGRAM

Student's Anonymity A Sticking Point

After taking a look at a policy for random voluntary drug testing of 
students, Carmel Unified School District trustees are solidifying 
guidelines that will be presented for adoption at a meeting Monday night.

The thrust of the guidelines will be to ensure that there is no paper 
trail for students who test positive for drugs.

Trustees were concerned about a worst-case scenario in which student 
records could be subpoenaed after test results were sent to parents.

The drug-testing program was approved in January and will be 
implemented next school year. It will be offered to Carmel High 
students and eighth-graders at Carmel Middle School. Parents and 
students are required to sign a form to participate.

Trustees postponed a vote last month on the guidelines in order to 
clarify questions about how to implement board policy.

Among their concerns was that students' names could be tied to test 
results and kept by the drug-analysis company.

Under the contract to be approved Monday, only the company collecting 
the data will have results in a form that can be linked to individual 
students. That data will be destroyed after 30 days.

Board President Howard Given said parents were concerned that 
students might be penalized down the line if their records were 
subpoenaed. Trustees didn't think this was fair, he said, because the 
program wasn't meant to punish students.

"The whole idea of the thing is that there is no penalty," Given said.

After students are tested at school, their samples will be sent to a 
laboratory and tested for drugs such as speed, cocaine, marijuana, 
heroin and methamphetamine. Numbers will be assigned to students so 
their names won't appear on the samples. Trustees also wanted the 
company to test for alcohol.

Originally a rapid screen was going to be performed at school and 
tested again at the laboratory. But because trustees want to ensure 
accuracy, they want samples tested at the laboratory.

Under the new proposal, parents would receive an initial phone call 
instead of a letter from the data-collection agency to let them know 
the result. School administrators won't have access to the records or 
test results.

Administrators and trustees hope the program will start an open 
dialog for families, as well as give students a tool to help them 
refuse drugs or alcohol.

The school district is expecting to spend $8,000 to $10,000 for the 
initial year. Each test costs about $40 per student.

If you go   What:Carmel Unified School District meeting   When:5 p.m. 
Monday   Where:Carmel Middle School library CARMEL UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman