Marijuana Policy Project

Students at The Colony High School are likely to undergo random drug testing in a little over a month, according to Lewisville Independent School District officials.

On December 10, 2007 the LISD School board approved the new drug testing policy for all high schools in the district.

The district’s drug testing program will begin on April 14 with a pool of students drawn from 80 percent of the school population.

“In June 2002 the Supreme Court of the United States made it legal for schools to test students for drugs if they are involved in any extracurricular activities,” said Lynn Charles, a counselor in the Safe and Drug Free office for LISD.

The pool of students for the drug testing will consist of three categories. Students who are part of an extracurricular activity such as sports, band, and debate teams; students that have parking permits; and students that parents have voluntarily put their children into the testing pool.

The testing is being managed by Forward Edge Inc. head quartered in Pasadena, Texas with branch offices in the Dallas, Houston, and Boger, Texas. During the spring semester 75 students per week will be selected for testing. The students will be told on the day of the testing to report to a testing location in the building to provide a urine sample. If the student is unable to provide the sample after three hours, then the test will be listed as a refusal and reported to the school.

Samples that are collected will be sent to a lab and tested for drug use. The panel of drugs tested for will include, but not be limited to, marijuana, cocaine, prescription painkillers or opiates, PCP, sedatives, and stimulants.

If the student fails the test the parents will be called to see if there is a reason for the failure.

“If we find that the student has prescriptions for drugs like Ritalin, or Metadate then it will be marked as a pass,” said Margret Gilbert with Forward Edge Inc. “We will have the parent send us a copy of the prescription or a phone number for a doctor that can confirm the prescription.”

If there is no justified reason for the failure then the parents have an option for a second test to be run on the sample. This carries a cost of $100 to the parent which will be reimbursed if the second test shows a false reading.

Once a student tests positive for drug use, and the parents have been notified, the district Safe and Drug Free office will be notified.

On the first offense the student will not be allowed to participate in any extracurricular activities and lose parking privileges for three weeks. They will also be required to have three counseling sessions with either the Safe and Drug Free office counselor or a doctor of the parent’s choice.

On the second offense the student will not be allowed to participate in any extracurricular activities and lose parking privileges for six weeks, be enrolled in the ADAPT program, and have weekly drug testing during the six weeks.

On the third offence the student will lose privileges for a full calendar year, have to attend family counseling sessions, and pass another drug test before they are given the privileges back.

“At no time will the data or the results of the test be added to the students educational records. They will also not be turned over to employers, or colleges,” Gilbert said. “We have to protect the records as medical records and they will not be disclosed to anyone.”

“Why not put all students into the pool,” asked Dan Paxton, who has contacted the ACLU to inquire about the legality of the program. “I think it should be all students or none of them.”

“The Supreme Court ruled that not all of the students could be tested as it would be a violation of the free education policies. However, they did rule that any students in extracurricular activities could be tested since it is a privilege and not a right,” said Randy Mays, Athletic Director for LISD.

“Texas courts then turned around and said that we could test students that have a parking permit. Since the school provides transportation to students that live over two miles from the school then driving to school is also a privilege as well,” Mays said.

Michael Burrow, a parent of a student at TCHS, feels the same way.

“I am all for them testing my son, but I think that it should be all or none as well,” Burrow said. “I work for a clinical lab and don’t have any problems with the testing, but I think that it should include everyone to be fair.”