Marijuana Policy Project

HILLSBOROUGH — The Board of Education has accepted a total of $123,444 in federal grant funds to offset the cost of a random student drug-testing plan for the next three years.

After a discussion during last week's Board of Education meeting, board members voted 6-3 to accept the grant. Frank Blandino, John Donnadio and Greg Gillette — who voted against implementing the random student drug-testing policy — also voted against accepting the grant.

The grant, received earlier this month from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy and the U.S. Department of Education, will be implemented during the 2008-09 school year and includes $41,148 each year until 2011. Hillsborough Assistant Superintendent Lisa Antunes had applied for the grant in late March.

The testing is modeled after a plan at Hunterdon Central Regional High School in Raritan Township. Students are randomly selected via computer from among those participating in athletics, extracurricular activities, school clubs and those who drive to school.

Chosen students will have a mouth swab or urine screening as part of the testing procedure. Students also can be selected more than once for testing.

Although the random student drug-testing plan in Hillsborough is estimated to cost $9,000 a year, township school officials had applied for $145,000 in federal grant funding since the grant applicant was required to request a minimum of $100,000.

Gillette said he had concerns about the grant not being used to pay for testing students in "noncompetitive extracurricular activities" and students who drive to school. The grant also can't be used toward retrofitting the high-school bathroom in the nurse's office to further ensure student privacy and prevent cross-contamination.

Gillette said his overall concern is that the program, expected to cost $9,000, will cost more through the grant funding. Gillette voted against the grant funding when the board considered it June 16, stating the district should pay the testing costs.

Forsthoffer has disagreed, saying this week, "There was a feeling from a Board of Education member that since the grant will provide for one-tenth the salary of the nursing supervisor, that when the grant has ended, the district is incurring future costs. I disagreed because random drug testing was never contingent upon receiving the grant."

Forsthoffer had said the grant would be used for a variety of things including the salary for the nursing supervisor, personnel costs, travel (two mandatory conferences the project director and district administrator must attend), supplies, construction and training stipends.

However, the grant also cannot be used for drug tests administered for students suspected of drug use; incentives for students to participate in random drug-test programs; drug treatment; and drug prevention curricula or prevention programs. Should a lawsuit occur, the district also would be unable to use the grant money to offset insurance deductibles.

The district also is expected to maintain records on the success of program, such as whether the tests met the program's objectives and performance measures in the evaluation plan, Forsthoffer has said.