Wahkiakum school board considers drug testing plan

The Wahkiakum School District board of directors discussed issues related to implementing a student drug testing policy when the board met last Thursday.

District administrators have suggested that the district have a program for testing students suspected of using illegal drugs or alcohol.

"Kids tell us that there is quite a bit of drug use at school," said Superintendent Bob Garrett. "Perhaps a policy would deter that. Having urinalysis would send a strong message."

In the 1990's, the district tried to implement a program for testing randomly selected student athletes. Students and parents won a lawsuit to overturn the program on the argument that searches of randomly selected students was an invasion of privacy.

Under the new program, school officials hope that suspicion of drug or alcohol use will allow the drug tests.

Chris Holmes of Wahkiakum Health and Human Services visited the school board last week to describe procedures which the Chemical Dependency staff use to test clients for drug use.

The department has contracted with a testing laboratory and purchases testing kits from them. The kit immediately inidicates if most drugs, but not alcohol, are present in the client's urine. Staff send the tests that show initial indicators to the lab for further testing and a professional report.

"We do a lot of testing," Holmes said. "We've been pretty satisfied; the lab is very responsive, and they're very low cost."

The tests can also be administered on site, so students could be tested at the school. Under the district's previous testing program, students and staff had to travel to the county Health Department for testing.

The health department has a strict chain of evidence policy to safeguard results, Holmes said.

The district has lots of work to do, and it will be many months before it has a policy ready to put in place, Garrett said.

Garrett plans to go over the proposed program with the county prosecuting attorney's office to cover legal issues. Once a draft policy is written, the board will notify parents and hold public meetings to hear comments.

Some staff have already had training in identifying signs of drug and alcohol use. Suspected students could be referred to them for evaluation and referral for testing. Students with positive tests would be covered under existing policies for students using drugs or alcohol; these may involve suspension or referrals to drug and alcohol programs.

"This is about helping kids get what they need," Holmes commented. "They can get a professional assessment, if that is built into the policy. There could be outreach and information for parents."