Article

As state prepares uniform rules for procedures, districts say costs will skyrocket

Thursday, June 14, 2007 • BY BEV McCARRON • Star-Ledger Staff

As more schools weigh random drug testing for students, educators and others fear the state's proposed guidelines would make the tests too costly and cumbersome and could lead some districts to eliminate the programs.

The regulations proposed by the Department of Education would require schools to use state-licensed clinical labs to collect and test urine samples for a variety of so-called recreational drugs. The tests are now typically conducted by a school nurse at a cost of about $10 each.

Under the proposed rules -- which received preliminary approval from the state board of education earlier this month and are to be adopted in October -- districts would have the choice of transporting students to a state lab to be tested, contracting with a lab to send a representative to the school, or obtaining a state license to conduct the tests on their own.

"This is inappropriate, and it's bureaucratic overkill," said David Evans, head of the Flemington-based advocacy group Drug Free Schools Coalition, who told state officials this week the rules would devastate programs that have been steadily gaining ground as a way of combating drug abuse.

Evans compared the drug testing to a home pregnancy test: "You don't need to have a clinical lab collecting your urine for (a) home pregnancy test, nor do you need to have a clinical lab collecting drug tests."

Currently, if a school tests a student and the result comes back positive, samples are sent to a lab for confirmation. Those lab tests cost roughly $35. In establishing its new rules, the state board did not calculate the cost of requiring schools to use state-licensed collection stations and clinical labs, but it acknowledged the procedure would cost more.

Jon Zlock, a spokesman for the Department of Education, noted the new rules are designed to establish uniform parameters for drug testing, including requirements for parental and student consent, as well as consequences for drug abuse.

"We are saying that if you are doing it, you can't do it willy-nilly," Zlock said. "If they elect to do it, they have to do it by our rules."

The requirement for lab tests came from the Department of Health and Senior Services, Zlock said.

Marilyn Riley, a spokeswoman for the health department, said the tests must conform with a statute requiring the involvement of a state-licensed clinical lab because they are being used to determine whether a student has a drug problem and needs treatment.

Riley said there are 1,800 licensed labs in New Jersey that could either collect the urine or test it. She also said schools could gain certification as labs, or could train staff as collection agents and then send the specimens to a lab.

At least 20 high schools in New Jersey randomly test students, and many more are considering it. Some districts are also implementing tests for eighth-graders whose parents give their approval.

This week, the Sparta School District in Sussex County adopted a random drug test policy. Hanover Regional High School in Morris County plans to begin testing this fall, and Ridge High School in Somerset County is weighing random testing after surveys showed a surge in marijuana and alcohol use among students.

The testing usually affects only those students involved in athletics and other extracurricular activities or who have parking permits. Those students are required to submit to random testing as a condition of participating in those programs.

In addition, New Jersey high school athletes are required to submit to random tests for steroids when their teams reach state playoffs. In that drug testing program, overseen by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, labs collect and analyze the samples at a cost of $75 apiece.

South Hunterdon School Superintendent Lisa Brady, who was principal at Hunterdon Central High School when it won a state Supreme Court ruling upholding a school's right to test, voiced concern about the new rules. South Hunterdon is to begin drug testing in the fall.

"This is really going to burden school districts," she said. "I am unaware of any problem that exists with the on-site collection in our schools, and I question the motivation. I question if they even realize what they are saying."

Arnold Hyndman, president of the state Board of Education, said students and their families are entitled to the most reliable test possible, given the angst that accompanies a false reading.

"There are many of us who understand this feature will bring some additional cost to school districts," he said, adding that some schools may have to re-evaluate the need for such a program.

"These are voluntary programs, and each district can and will look at whether this particular form of testing fits the framework of their budget," he said.

Lori Roland, student-assistance counselor at Brick High School, said a discussion of the new rules came up at a meeting Ocean County school counselors earlier this month.

"The fact is, it might potentially hamper drug testing by forcing schools to become licensed labs," she said. "I think the current methodology is working just fine."

Schools fear for their drug-testing programs

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