The Board of Education of the New Richmond Exempted Village School District at its August 17 meeting approved a random drug testing policy for New Richmond High School athletes and students involved in extra-curricular activities.
District Supt. Adam Bird championed the random drug testing program to give students another way to say no when they come under peer pressure to use drugs and alcohol. The random drug testing policy received the full support of high school administrators, coaches and received overwhelming public support at public hearings this summer.
Board members Kim Hayden, Kevin Walriven, Tim DuFau, Tony Farmer and Kristin Bennett voted for the policy which goes into effect this school year. The random drug testing policy is available at the link below:
http://www.nrschools.org/Downloads/NREVSD_DrugTesting2.pdf
“It will give our students an additional reason to say no to peer pressure regarding drugs and alcohol,” said Bird. “I think this is very important for our schools and our community which continues to experience heroin deaths and continues to experience drug use and drug problems.”
Under the proposed policy, students in grades 9-12 who participate in athletics, students who participate in extra-curricular activities, students possessing District parking privileges, and students who volunteer would have to submit to random drug tests administered by a third-party laboratory.
The purpose of this Policy is as follows:
A. To provide for the health, safety and welfare of all students;
B. To identify students with substance use problems for referral to appropriate counseling or treatment services
C. To undermine the effects of peer pressure by providing a legitimate reason for students to refuse use of illegal drugs and/or alcohol;
D To deter drug use among all students:
E. To identify students who use illegal drugs and/or alcohol;
F. To encourage students who use illegal drugs and/or alcohol to participate in appropriate treatment programs; and
G. To provide easy parent access to drug addiction help through mha.ohio.gov, StartTalking.ohio.gov and similar websites.
This Policy applies to all students in grades 9-12 with privileges, namely;
A. student athletes;
B. students participating in extra-curricular activities;
C. students possessing District parking privileges;
“The high school administration will assign numbers to each student and the lab will randomly generate a list to be tested,” said Bird. “The lab technician will show up at random times and give the high school the numbers to be tested.”
Drugs for which students may be tested under the proposed policy would include Alcohol, Anabolic Steroids, Nicotine (Tobacco), Marijuana, LSD, Amphetamines, Methamphetamines, Methadone, Anabolic Steroids, Methaqualone, Barbiturates, Benzodiazepines (Valium), Opiates, Cocaine, Propoxyphene (Darvon), MD/MA (Ecstasy), Phencyclidine, Tricyclic, Buprenorphine, Oxycodone, and/or any substances included in 21 U.S.C. 802(6).
Although students risk the loss of team-activities-parking privileges, the Random Drug Testing Policy is designed to be non-punitive with regard to academics. No student will be suspended or expelled from school as a result of a certified positive test conducted by the District under the Random Drug Testing Policy.