15% of Jackson students will be drug-tested; eight discipline incidents involved drugs last year

With a total of eight last year, Jackson High School saw fewer disciplinary incidents involving drugs than months in the school year.

The year before that, it had nine, marking a nearly twofold improvement over the 2013-2014 school year’s 17 offenses.

For having about 1,600 students, statistics like these corroborate Jackson superintendent John Link’s assertion Jackson students, grades nine through 12, do not have a drug problem.

“I think that when you compare us to schools of our size, those are pretty awesome numbers,” he said.

Still, coaching faculty argued otherwise, saying the school district could use a random drug-test policy so students would have a ready-made excuse to not use drugs when presented with the choice.

While the statistics might paint a picture of limited drug incidents at the school, the school board decided Tuesday night to adopt a random drug-testing policy for students involved in extracurricular activities.

The move has proven controversial, as many have taken to Facebook arguing the policy is a violation of the Fourth Amendment or is unnecessary.

Others have praised the move in an effort to curb drug use.

The district will spend thousands of dollars to conduct hundreds of random student drug tests.

Beginning this year, students who wish to play a sport, join the debate team or participate in any other extracurricular activity will be required to sign a consent form to be screened at random.

Not every student will be screened, but of the roughly 600 students who participate in extracurricular activities, 270 will be tested.

Not counting random second tests, that’s nearly half of extracurricular participants and just over 15 percent of the student body.

The school district has hired Cape Girardeau testing company Essential Benefit Offerings to conduct the urinalysis tests.

EBO will not have any access to student names, but twice a month, EBO will send a list of random numbers to Jackson assistant principal Travis Wilson, who will have a corresponding list of students, Link said.

Wilson then will summon the students and send a letter to their parents informing them their child was tested that day.

The school nurse and EBO emissary will wait outside a restroom where the sink has been taped off and the toilet water tinted blue to discourage forgery while the student urinates in a cup. The technician will test the sample using a 12-panel dip tester.

The test is designed to identify the presence of cocaine, THC (the operant compound in marijuana), opiates, amphetamines, methamphetamine, PCP, benzodiazepines, barbiturates, methadone, oxycodone, propoxyphene and MDMA, according to an EBO document obtained by the Southeast Missourian.

Link said students will not be tested for use of performance-enhancing drugs, meaning steroids and drugs similarly associated with athletics. Instead, the purpose will be to identify recreational drug use.

“Marijuana, amphetamines, things of that nature,” Link said.

It doesn’t, however, test for alcohol, which is used by more adolescents than marijuana, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

But nearly half of those substances for which the students are being tested conceivably could be a student’s legitimate prescribed medication.

This would produce a “non-negative” result, Link said, but wouldn’t be considered a “positive: result at that point. It would be sent to a laboratory in Memphis, Tennessee, for more specific testing and then would undergo a medical review to verify the legitimacy of the student’s use.

“There are a lot of reasons why it could show up non-negative,” Link said. “We want to protect the child, the student and their family.”

A non-negative result means a phone call to the student’s parents, but students whose samples require further testing are free to participate in extracurricular activities in the meantime and would be penalized only if the official lab deems the drug use inappropriate.

“We’re not trying to be the Drug Task Force or the ‘gotcha’ police,” Link said. “If there’s a benefit of the doubt to be played, we’re going to err on the side of the student.”

Students found to have improperly used a drug will be banned from participating in extracurricular activities 15 days for a first offense, 90 days for a second and a calendar year for the third.

Refusal to submit a urine sample on demand will be considered as a positive test result.

Students also will be required to complete an online course being developed by Joe Moss, a coach at the Jackson alternative school, before extracurricular privileges are restored.

“It’s not going to be anything that’s too grueling,” Link said of the course. “But if it’s their second attempt, it may be a bit longer. If it’s a third offense, we have an issue, and we need to go more in-depth.”

Penalized students also will consult the school district’s social workers who will advise them regarding “resources [that] will be available through local agencies or churches,” he said.

Each test, Link said, is about $6.

That means if all of the 270 planned samples prove negative, the program wouldn’t cost more than $2,000.

But because additional testing and review incur additional fees, the school district expects to pay at least double and maybe triple that amount.

“About five or six thousand dollars,” Link said.

Many in the community have taken to social media to express their support or displeasure with the new policy.

Some said the policy is unwarranted and invasive; others said it’s the logical step to further decrease Jackson’s already-low drug offense rate.

Link said the policy is intended to foster partnership among the student, school and parent and promote healthy choices.

Assistant principal Wilson said in June despite having few disciplinary instances on paper, administrators and coaches notice the existence of drug use.

“For years, (the issue) was just kind of there, and we couldn’t do anything about it,” he said.

“We don’t feel like we have a drug problem in Jackson; we’re just trying to offer [students] a tool,” Link said. “In January, a group of coaches contacted me and said, ‘Hey, we would like to look into random drug-testing. We have some kids who we feel are making bad choices, and we want to help them make better choices.’”

Link said while the school seems to have made progress in recent years to reduce drug use, he knows a drug-free school isn’t realistic.

“We’re just like other schools. There are students who use drugs, but in no way do we want to present this policy like it means Jackson has a drug problem,” he said.

“What we have is a caring problem. ... We want to help them say, ‘No.’”

tgraef@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3627