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School to test hair for teens' drug use
By Ray Quintanilla and Carolyn Starks
Tribune staff reporters
Published May 31, 2007
It's the last week of classes at St. Viator Catholic High School in Arlington Heights, and even as they slogged through finals, some students talked about the hairy tests coming next fall -- mandatory drug tests.
Peter Heiberg, a junior, said he's puzzled about the school's new drug policy that will require more than 1,000 students to submit hair samples for drug testing.
"It's been a hot topic at the lunch tables, and some students just don't understand the need for it," Heiberg, 18, said Wednesday, a day after St. Viator announced one of the toughest high school drug policies in the nation. "This school doesn't have a drug problem. Is it going too far? I don't know."
But Rev. Robert Egan, the Catholic school's president, said the measure is a "realistic approach" to fighting the proliferation of drugs such as PCP, marijuana, amphetamines and crack, since national surveys show that as many as 40 percent of high school seniors have tried illegal drugs.
"We are not the police and our intent is not to try and catch our students using drugs," Egan said. "We seek to provide a program that allows them to say no to drugs -- if for no other reason than knowledge that they will be tested."
The school isn't alone in its tough new stance. St. Patrick High School in Chicago started testing hair samples of all of its students in 2004 to actively oppose drug abuse, officials said. The roughly 1,000 students are screened for marijuana, cocaine, opiates, methamphetamines, PCP and Ecstasy. So far, fewer than 1 percent have tested positive, officials said.
"They all know it's coming," spokesman Chris Nelson said.
The approach isn't widespread among public schools, experts said. The National School Boards Association estimates that 5 percent of public school districts test athletes and 2 percent test students involved in extracurricular activities, an official said.
"This is definitely on the outer edges of what school districts are trying," said Lisa Soronen, a senior staff attorney with the organization, based in Alexandria, Va.
"If this was a public school system, what they are doing would be pretty radical," she said.
In several rulings, the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld drug-testing policies in public school districts.
Students at St. Patrick's are brought to a training room, where the deans take a hair sample, seal it in an envelope and send it for testing, Nelson said. Two positive tests and a student can be dismissed.
The tests, which cost about $60,000 a year, also identify a range of drug use from light to heavy within the 90 days before the hair sample was taken. St. Viator's test is expected to cost about $45 per student, school officials said.
As a former emergency room physician who has dealt with lethal drug overdoses, Dr. Jerrold Leikin said he supports St. Viator's new policy as a way to identify students who need help.
"I feel that the education industry should be treated just like any other industry," said Leikin, a medical toxicologist with Evanston Northwestern Healthcare. "Virtually every other industry does drug testing in some form. ... It has worked in every other industry to some extent."
Test results, he said, should not be automatically used as a punitive measure, but as an opportunity to help the student.
Margie Marty, whose son Kevin is a freshman at St. Viator, said the school's policy "simply reinforces what we are teaching at home."
"If a student gets caught, this can get them some help," Marty said. "And it's going to make students much more aware of this issue."
Parents began receiving letters notifying them of the policy about two weeks ago, she said.
Her son Kevin, 15, said he hasn't lost any sleep over the new policy.
"There are kids talking, but I haven't heard anyone who is really worried," he said after school Wednesday. "Some kids just don't like the idea of this testing, but it doesn't mean they're using drugs."
School officials said there hasn't been a groundswell of parental concern about the policy. The reaction "has been very positive," Egan said.
Students said officials have been preparing them for the new testing for weeks, saying it will begin in August. Each student will be tested within the first six weeks of classes, officials said.
Those who test positive will be required to attend a confidential conference with the dean of students, the principal, their parents and a school counselor. Those students will be retested after 100 days at their own expense.
A second positive test can result in expulsion.
"It's nothing to worry about, if you're not taking any drugs," said Paul Stasiuk, a sophomore. "It's not a big problem."
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[email protected]
[email protected]
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune
School to test hair for teens' drug use
By Ray Quintanilla and Carolyn Starks
Tribune staff reporters
Published May 31, 2007
It's the last week of classes at St. Viator Catholic High School in Arlington Heights, and even as they slogged through finals, some students talked about the hairy tests coming next fall -- mandatory drug tests.
Peter Heiberg, a junior, said he's puzzled about the school's new drug policy that will require more than 1,000 students to submit hair samples for drug testing.
"It's been a hot topic at the lunch tables, and some students just don't understand the need for it," Heiberg, 18, said Wednesday, a day after St. Viator announced one of the toughest high school drug policies in the nation. "This school doesn't have a drug problem. Is it going too far? I don't know."
But Rev. Robert Egan, the Catholic school's president, said the measure is a "realistic approach" to fighting the proliferation of drugs such as PCP, marijuana, amphetamines and crack, since national surveys show that as many as 40 percent of high school seniors have tried illegal drugs.
"We are not the police and our intent is not to try and catch our students using drugs," Egan said. "We seek to provide a program that allows them to say no to drugs -- if for no other reason than knowledge that they will be tested."
The school isn't alone in its tough new stance. St. Patrick High School in Chicago started testing hair samples of all of its students in 2004 to actively oppose drug abuse, officials said. The roughly 1,000 students are screened for marijuana, cocaine, opiates, methamphetamines, PCP and Ecstasy. So far, fewer than 1 percent have tested positive, officials said.
"They all know it's coming," spokesman Chris Nelson said.
The approach isn't widespread among public schools, experts said. The National School Boards Association estimates that 5 percent of public school districts test athletes and 2 percent test students involved in extracurricular activities, an official said.
"This is definitely on the outer edges of what school districts are trying," said Lisa Soronen, a senior staff attorney with the organization, based in Alexandria, Va.
"If this was a public school system, what they are doing would be pretty radical," she said.
In several rulings, the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld drug-testing policies in public school districts.
Students at St. Patrick's are brought to a training room, where the deans take a hair sample, seal it in an envelope and send it for testing, Nelson said. Two positive tests and a student can be dismissed.
The tests, which cost about $60,000 a year, also identify a range of drug use from light to heavy within the 90 days before the hair sample was taken. St. Viator's test is expected to cost about $45 per student, school officials said.
As a former emergency room physician who has dealt with lethal drug overdoses, Dr. Jerrold Leikin said he supports St. Viator's new policy as a way to identify students who need help.
"I feel that the education industry should be treated just like any other industry," said Leikin, a medical toxicologist with Evanston Northwestern Healthcare. "Virtually every other industry does drug testing in some form. ... It has worked in every other industry to some extent."
Test results, he said, should not be automatically used as a punitive measure, but as an opportunity to help the student.
Margie Marty, whose son Kevin is a freshman at St. Viator, said the school's policy "simply reinforces what we are teaching at home."
"If a student gets caught, this can get them some help," Marty said. "And it's going to make students much more aware of this issue."
Parents began receiving letters notifying them of the policy about two weeks ago, she said.
Her son Kevin, 15, said he hasn't lost any sleep over the new policy.
"There are kids talking, but I haven't heard anyone who is really worried," he said after school Wednesday. "Some kids just don't like the idea of this testing, but it doesn't mean they're using drugs."
School officials said there hasn't been a groundswell of parental concern about the policy. The reaction "has been very positive," Egan said.
Students said officials have been preparing them for the new testing for weeks, saying it will begin in August. Each student will be tested within the first six weeks of classes, officials said.
Those who test positive will be required to attend a confidential conference with the dean of students, the principal, their parents and a school counselor. Those students will be retested after 100 days at their own expense.
A second positive test can result in expulsion.
"It's nothing to worry about, if you're not taking any drugs," said Paul Stasiuk, a sophomore. "It's not a big problem."
-----------
[email protected]
[email protected]
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune
