Voluntary Random Drug Testing Program:
Random Voluntary Drug Testing Program
As much as we would like to believe that all of our students are making positive and healthy choices, we know that some are not. FVHS is going to join the ranks of many Orange County schools and institute a random voluntary drug-testing program to act as a deterrent to students using prescription or illegal drugs.
Here’s how it will work. All parents will be provided a form to opt in or opt out of the drug-testing program (download form here). If you opt into the program, your son/daughter may be selected at random to participate in a drug screening. Tests are conducted by a private firm called Complete Drug Testing (CDT) and results are sent to the home. The school never knows the results of the tests and there are no school-administered consequences.
Participation in this program gives your son/daughter a reason to say no whenever they are in a social setting at which drugs are present. If offered drugs, your son or daughter can say, “no, I better not – I am in the random drug test program.” If test results come back positive, handling the situation may be difficult for both the parent and the student, but it is absolutely better than not knowing. Community resources are available to help families coping with drug/alcohol use.
CDT administers this program in all of the Capistrano Unified High Schools, at Edison High School and at many other schools. They recommend the school conduct 10 tests of about 30 students each time. Students are selected at random from the group of participants by Complete Drug Testing. Each test administered costs about $30. That means the school will need to spend about $9000.00 to administer enough tests to make the program effective.
On the parent option form, we request a donation. We would like donations from any parent who can contribute to helping us fund this program to help diminish drug use by our teenagers, whether you choose to participate or not. If every family donated $3, we would have enough to run the program. We know that we cannot count on every family to donate, so we are asking for donations from $5-$20 to help cover the costs.
Voluntary RANDOM Drug Testing Program Process
Following is a description of how Complete Drug Testing administers the program. Drugs Tested for include Marijuana, Methamphetamine, Cocaine, Opiates, PCP, and SOMA
It is important to stress that the school is simply the facilitator of the program. The school does not get results nor can the school influence the random selection.
Students are selected by CDT using RandomWare computer software. Only the students whose parents marked “yes” on the application form will be in the computer system. On the designated day, CDT arrives and collects specimens from the randomly selected students. The specimens are then taken back to their facility and tested. If no drugs are present, a letter is generated from CDT to the parent stating that their child had been tested that day and no drugs were found. A list of the drugs is also included on the letter to the parent.
If drugs are present, the specimen is sent to a certified laboratory for further testing. The laboratory will confirm via GCMS (Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry) the drug and the specific amount in the child’s body at the time the specimen was collected. When those results are received from the laboratory, CDT contacts the parent directly via telephone and discusses the results, answers questions and gives referrals if requested. Copies of the laboratory results are made available to the parent.
Parents CAN NOT request their child be tested. Once enrolled, parents have a tendency to call either the school or CDT asking to have their child tested because they suspect the child of drug use. If that is the case, we encourage parents to take their child to the appropriate medical facility to get tested.
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