On Monday, the Riverside community gathered in the Riverside High School cafeteria for an Informational Night for parents. The topic of discussion was Riverside’s possible new Drug Testing Policy. Parents with children in all grades came out to give their opinion on the subject at matter, and while some seemed to support it, the rest had more questions rather than support.
The policy would target Riverside students in grades 7 through 12. Specifically, it would be aimed at students who drive and or participate in Riverside sports, however, students in the band would not be subject to these tests. According to Riverside the main reason behind these random drug testing would be to give students another reason to say no to drugs.
“This is not a gotcha program,” said Great Lakes Biomedical President, Kyle Pruete, “They [students] can use this as one more tool in the toolbox to say No to drugs.”
Riverside will be getting these tests through the Ohio-based Great Lakes Biomedical. Great Lakes is already serving 150 schools in the Ohio and Michigan states and have been doing drug and alcohol testing for 22 years. Both Pruete and the sales manager Zack Boris were present at the meeting on Monday, and both spoke on behalf of the possible new policy.
Those selected for the random drug tests are completely random. All the names of the participants are entered into a random selection computer software, and the school will ask for a set amount of names and be given a list. Students selected will not be given prior notice of the dates or times for their selected testing.
No matter how many activities a student participates in, the student will only be entered in once.
Some parents argued that it is “unfair” how the school is targeting only a select few students and that this should be an “all or nothing” policy. Those parents were told that legally the school cannot drug test everyone.
source: greatlakesbiomedical.com
“I’m not against the drug testing, but I am against only athletes and student drivers being tested at the expense of their parents. This leaves a large group of students not being tested where their parents have no additional cost during the school year,” said one community member. “It seems unfair to just single out two groups of kids. I believe if there is a drug problem at Riverside this won’t change anything.”
Each student who fit the requirements to be tested must submit a $50 fee at the beginning of their sport or when they sign up for a Riverside parking permit. Parents/Guardians will be required to sign a consent form for their students before a specific deadline or else the student shall not be able to participate. Students will also be required to sign a permission form as well as they are expected to cooperate with the testing process should they be chosen. The Riverside faculty will not be involved with this process in any way.
While many parents claim that “Riverside does not have a drug problem”, school board president Shawn Plassmeyer said otherwise.
“I’ve heard from dozen of parents and students that there is a drug problem,” Plassmeyer said during the meeting.
Riverside had not done a prior survey or anything to come to the conclusion that Riverside needs this testing due to a problem. Bret Trotta, assistant superintendent, said that this came from the opioid epidemic throughout the state and especially since how it became an issue in Beaver County.
If this policy goes through, there will be a form of a three strike situation.
Strike one, you are suspended from any activities/parking for fourteen days, the student will be assessed by the appropriate drug and or alcohol agency and be automatically referred to the Student Assistance Program (SAP) Tea, and required to submit 5 consecutive tests that they must pay for as well. Strike two is the same except you will be suspended from activities/parking for twenty-eight days, and strike three is the same except the suspension will become permanent.
Students will be tested in a 5-panel form; three will stay consistent but the other two will switch every time. The consistent tests will be for marijuana, cocaine, and opioids. If there is a positive test, the Medical Review Officer (MRO) to certify all drug test screens then report the positive findings over the phone to the parent/guardian. After the parent is notified, the Building Principal will be notified and they will schedule a meeting with the parent as well as notify the Athletic Director that the test returned positive and give only the test dates and what was reported. If there is a negative test, parents/guardians will not be notified and all student records of negative tests will be destroyed at the end of each school year.
While nothing has been finalized, there will be more public meetings to discuss this policy before voting. However, Plassmeyer noted that if a policy is approved, the school board hopes to enact it within the next few months.
“random”
“three strike”
For a set of 100 people, how could the same person be selected three times?
How accurate are the tests? At 99.9 accurate that’s one failure per thousand, how many thousands of tests does the company do? Who do you sue when you get a false positive? There’s a 100% chance of inaccuracies. Betting that permission slip you sign indemnifies the school and company, so it’s too bad for you.
Riverside District needs better leadership.
on my behalf i believe this policy is stupid and also believe that the faculty should also be tested too not just the students. i also believe that the one principle at the school should still seek some punishment for the things that he said to that one lady and was posted on facebook at the beginning of the school year. i did go to riverside and my child is a sophomore and she believes that the faculty is targeting students that they suspect is doing drugs. i was a target when i was there and i felt that they were out to get me and they wouldn’t leave me alone. my daughter is feeling attacked by the faculty and i’m not going to consent to something as to what she doesn’t want to do. it is her body and she has the right to do whatever she chooses to do and the school should not try to own the students there. i am ashamed at what this school has become and ashamed that the faculty is trying to own kids and make them do whatever the school wants. they are discriminating only against athletes and drivers why don’t they test the whole school and not just those select two groups. this just makes me outraged and furious with the schools decisions.
oh and not to mention we have to pay $50 for this test?! and that our kids also have to pay when they are chosen to get tested!! that’s ridiculous maybe if the school had more money and they should’ve spent it on air conditioning and heat for the school because that’s another thing my daughter complains about!! i think the school should take care of the problems that they have and worry about selecting two groups of kids to drug test for.