Jefferson City Public Schools plans to change the way it drug tests its athletes.
The plan would move from bulk group drug testing to random testing. We believe this could be less invasive, while saving time and money.
The current practice involves up to 600 students at a time — a large endeavor. The students also are given advance notice of the date and time of the testing, which could defeat the purpose.
In a story we published Tuesday, Director of Secondary Education Gary Verslues also said the collective amount of class time students miss for the testing would be more than cut in half by a switch to randomized testing.
Under the proposed drug testing system, individual students would be selected by the random pick of a random number assigned to them and entered into a pool for each season of an activity sponsored by the Missouri State High School Activities Association that a student is a part of, Verslues said.
The Board of Education could vote on the proposed drug testing change at its meeting next month.
Drug testing is a controversial subject. In 1995, the United States Supreme Court ruled random drug testing of students is constitutional. But many people still don’t support such programs, arguing they are invasions of privacy.
Studies on drug testing also are mixed, and some high-profile groups oppose student drug testing in general.
The American Academy of Pediatrics said it “recommends against the use of school-based drug testing programs because of limited evidence of efficacy and potential risks associated with this procedure.”
Any change to the JCPS drug testing policy would, obviously, have to be designed to pass constitutional muster in case it were challenged.
A drug testing program, including a change in the current program, also should not only be designed to limit students’ invasion of privacy, but it also should be supported by the community.
If you have strong feelings on the issue, contact school board members and let them know.
Our belief is if there needs to be a drug testing program, random testing is preferable to the current approach.
News Tribune