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SV drug testing program lauded
Source:
Cranberry Eagle
Written by:
Paula Grubbs
Published:
August 18, 2010
JACKSON TWP — The drug testing program in the Seneca Valley School District is entering its seventh year with statistics that support its value.
Superintendent Donald Tylinski stressed the drug testing program does not indicate a drug problem in the school district.
He said the program, which requires all students in seventh through 12th grades entering any sport, club or activity to submit to a drug test, has actually helped a number of families over the years.
Assistant Superintendent Matthew McKinley said positive results dropped to 32 in the 2009-10 school year. He said that number indicated 25 students — some of whom were entering multiple clubs, sports or activities — tested positive.
McKinley said 4,561 tests were administered to 3,287 students, or 72 percent of the district's secondary population.
In 2008-09, 37 positive results were received out of 4,542 tests given.
McKinley said the national average for positive results in a school district is 2 percent, and Seneca Valley has always hovered around just 1 percent. He said only .7 percent of students tested positive last year.
"In my opinion, if you have one student on drugs, you have a drug problem," said McKinley.
He named former school board member Dean Berkebile as a major proponent of the drug-testing program seven years ago, when many parents and residents voiced their opposition to the program at school board meetings.
But McKinley said the program has helped many families who had no idea their students were involved with drugs.
"We've seen a lot of families who were completely in the dark get this knowledge and act on it," McKinley said.
He said parents are contacted when a student tests positive, then administrators meet with the parents. The first offense involves a 14-day removal of the student from the sport, club or activity they were testing for.
The student is then tested weekly for five weeks to ensure the amount of the drug in his or her system is decreasing. The student can then return to the activity. More stringent penalties await repeat offenders.
McKinley said administrators have seen improvements in general behavior and reduced expulsions for drug-related offenses over the seven years of the program's existence.
"We have given the gift of knowledge to these families," said McKinley.
He said no other school district in the county uses a drug-testing program. More details on the policy are available at www.svsd.net.
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