The school will begin requiring students involved in athletics and extra-curricular activities to pass urine tests if a pilot drug-testing program is approved by the Tooele County School Board next month. The program would be the first of its kind in the Tooele County School District.
Drug testing has the backing of the school's community council, parents and the student body, according to WHS principal John Barrus.
"Drug use at Wendover High School is probably not any more prevalent than at other schools," Barrus said. "We just want to do something positive to help kids stay drug-free and have a better life."
Barrus cited statistics from the 2007 Student Health and Risk Prevention survey done by Utah State Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health that reported 60 percent of seventh grade students in Wendover have tried drugs. He also said 14 driving-under-the-influence cases were going through the juvenile justice system in Wendover presently -- an indication of the need to do something more to help students avoid drugs and alcohol.
The policy and procedures for WHS are modeled after a successful drug testing program used at Rich High School in Randolph for the past three years.
"Before we started the drug testing program, drug use was very prevalent in our high school," said Rick Larsen, principal of Rich High School. Larsen estimated up to 80 percent of the student body was experimenting or using some type of drug, most commonly marijuana.
Three years later, the school has very few students using drugs, according to Larsen.
"The whole attitude has changed," Larsen said. "Now it is cool to be tested and found clean. Students use the test as an excuse to say no to drugs."
Barrus is hoping for the same results at Wendover.
"This not a punitive process, police will not be involved" Barrus said. "If a student tests positive, we will involve the parents and counselors from Valley Mental Health. We want to be positive and help students."
In order to protect student rights, carefully crafted procedures will be followed.
Only students involved in athletics, extra-curricular activities and other voluntary programs will be required to be in the pool for random testing. Parents may also sign a waiver and put their students into the program voluntarily.
The tests will be conducted by school district staff.
Each week, a computer will randomly select at least 10 percent of those students in the testing pool for random testing. The students will report to the school office where, following procedures designed to maintain both the privacy of the student and the validity of the sample, urine will be collected.
A test strip capable of detecting several kinds of drugs including marijuana, cocaine, opiates, amphetamines, methamphetamines, ecstasy and PCP will be used. The test will not detect steroid or alcohol use. The results will be available within one minute after the test. The test can detect marijuana use for up to 30 days after use.
The urine sample will be kept and may be sent to a laboratory for further testing if a false positive is suspected.
Barrus has met in small groups with students to explain the details of the drug test procedure and consequences of testing positive.
"The majority of students have no problem with the testing," said Allyson Supanich, who will serve as student body president for WHS next year. "They have explained the test to us and most of the students are on board. It should help reduce drug use."
Mike Johnsen, Tooele County School District superintendent, said there are no immediate plans to expand drug testing to other district schools.
"The program will be evaluated at the end of the school year," Johnsen said. "We'll have to wait and see how it works in Wendover, if the board approves the program."
The school board will either approve or reject the WHS drug testing program at its June 3 meeting at 6:30 p.m. at the Tooele County School District Office in Tooele.
tgillie@tooeletranscript.com
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