Students who would like to participate in sports and other activities at Ogden High and Mount Ogden Junior high will be subjected to random drug testing, according to a report on the Standard-Examiner. This comes after the school board gave its approval on a pilot program for implementation during the next school year. Estimated cost is $2,500, with the school board set to shoulder half of the expenses while the rest will be shouldered by the schools.
District athletic director Ken Crawford said that employing drug testing will serve as a way to encourage student athletes to say no if and when they are placed in a situation where they are given the opportunity to use drugs.
The program will involve the testing of three students each week at Ogden High and one student a week at Mount Ogden Junior High. For Mount Ogden, only ninth graders will be included in the random drug testing. Students who will undergo testing are to be selected at random, and the faculty restroom will be used for the tests. Students who will undergo testing will be asked about prescription medications that they are taking prior to undergoing the test.
It is said to be patterned after a program that has been in used at Bonneville High School for a number of years. Crawford shares: “They have seen great success with theirs and we are hoping for the same thing.”
The contract for administering the weekly tests has been awarded to Liquid Solutions. The district policy involves drug testing students who are involved in school activities, so in addition to athletes, cheerleaders and band members may need to undergo random testing as well. The specific details will still need to be finalized.
Tags: school drug test, student drug test, utah drug test
