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District gets first look at drug testing results
By Chris Roark, Staff Writer
Lewisville ISD officials received statistics last week showing the results of the district’s random student drug testing program, which began late last spring and kicked into full gear at the beginning of the fall semester.
Since the program began last April, 2,254 students in the district have been randomly tested. Of those, 1 percent of them tested positive for a drug that is on the list of banned substances, said Regina Bennett, the district’s Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities (SDFSC) coordinator.
The program, which costs about $100,000 per year, allows the district’s high schools to randomly test students for illegal drugs and the overuse of prescription drugs if they have a parking sticker and/or are involved in extra-curricular activities. Also, parents who have students that don’t fall into either category can voluntarily ask for their children to be included in the group. Forty-eight students per campus per week were randomly selected to be tested during the fall semester.
Bennett said marijuana was detected in about 90 percent of the students who tested positive. Amphetamines and the painkiller Darvocet were also found in a small percentage of students.
Students who test positive for the first time are suspended from extra-curricular activities for 15 school days and lose their parking permit for 15 school days. They must also take three mandatory counseling sessions through Student Assistance and Response (STAR) or a regular counselor.
Second-time offenders have their suspensions increased to 30 days and must take six counseling sessions. A third-time offense leads to suspension for one calendar year and a minimum of 12 counseling sessions.
All offenses require weekly drug testing for the duration of the suspension.
Of those who tested positive the first time and were later retested, 0.2 percent tested positive again.
“That’s good because hopefully it was a deterrent,” Bennett said.
Bennett also said the program has been a success because of its joint work with the STAR program.
“We’re finding that students are coming to the STAR program who have never even been tested for drugs,” Bennett said. “We were hoping that this would be a resource and that the drug testing would be just one aspect of it. We’re finding that students deal with a lot of things, such as substance abuse, suicidal issues and behavior problems. So this is a resource in addition to the schools’ academic counselors.”
As far as the future of the program, Bennett said the LISD Board of Trustees will make the decision as to whether or not to continue with it during the 2009-10 school year. She said she hasn’t heard that the board won’t continue the program and assumes it will continue with minor changes but the same basic format.
The program was a result of a year-long effort led by Bennett, LISD Athletic Director Randy Mayes, director of guidance and counseling Kitty Hudnall and SDFSC counselor Lynn Charles. The test comes following an LISD survey in 2007 in which 48.1 percent of students surveyed said they believe drug and alcohol use by students in their school is a problem.
The following are comments from the readers.
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
Gerald wrote on Feb 4, 2009 4:34 PM:
" 1%? Obviously there isn't a problem in LISD. Compared to nationwide statistics, 1% is puny. This a waste of money. "
Darry wrote on Feb 5, 2009 3:10 PM:
" When are they going to randomly test staff? I personally know of educators who use illegal drugs. Not in LISD, but nonetheless. Staff who don't use illegal substances should have nothing to worry about, right? "
Athletic Parent wrote on Feb 7, 2009 10:38 PM:
" Only 2,254 students in all of LISD were tested. LISD covers all of Lewisville, Flower Mound, The Colony, parts of Frisco and Carrollton. Any student that is an athelte, involved in band, cheerleading, clubs, has a parking pass, etc. is suposed to be in the pool for random drug testing. And they only tested 2,254 students?
I am not sure that the "random" method is providing a clear picture. My student ahtlete was "randomly" tested 4 times this year. Another student athlete we know was also "randomly" tested twice.
It appears the same students are being tested over and over. 2, 254 is not avery good sampling of students when many of those tested, were tested multiple times. "
I am not sure that the "random" method is providing a clear picture. My student ahtlete was "randomly" tested 4 times this year. Another student athlete we know was also "randomly" tested twice.
It appears the same students are being tested over and over. 2, 254 is not avery good sampling of students when many of those tested, were tested multiple times. "
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