Pubdate: Wed, 26 Dec 2007
Source: Virginia Gazette, The (Williamsburg, VA)
Copyright: 2007 The Virginia Gazette
Contact:  http://www.vagazette.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3760
Author: Susan Robertson
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)

MORE WJC STUDENTS AGREE TO DRUG TESTS

JAMES CITY - WJC's voluntary drug testing program might  not be as 
controversial as it originally seemed.

Steve Chantry, director of student services, said that  while 
responses were down slightly this year, the  number of students who 
consented to be in the testing  pool increased. He attributes the 
increase to the fact  that the program is a year old now and people 
have had  time to see that it was never designed to get students  in trouble.

"We had 4,569 students return forms," he said. "Of  those 1,851 said yes."

About 80% of secondary students in WJC returned the  consent forms 
sent home with them at the beginning of  the school year. Nearly 33% 
agreed to participate.

Both the student and parent must sign the form, even if  the student 
doesn't participate. Chantry said he's glad  to see that the number 
of returned forms is still so  high, closely mirroring last year.

"We hope that means, no matter the response, that they  (the family) 
had a conversation about drug use," he  said.

The program is not punitive. Students are chosen for  testing at 
random and the tests are conducted on site  at the school once or 
twice a month. If a test is  positive, the parents and student are 
contacted by the  lab within four days and information on options is 
made  available to them.

"We're still keeping the names of those who say yes or  no 
confidential so as to not put pressure on anyone  either way," 
Chantry said. "We want this to be a family  decision."

Last year, 181 students were tested, and five tested  positive. Those 
five were later verified as legitimate  positives resulting from the 
use of prescription  medication. No positive tests were a result of 
substance abuse. The lab also reported that no  specimens had been 
tampered with.

So far this year just 30 students have been tested.  Chantry said he 
could not release testing results at  this time because it could 
compromise the secret  testing schedule.

The division's goal is to test approximately 15% of the  testing pool 
each year.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom