Pubdate: Wed, 11 Apr 2007
Source: La Crosse Tribune (WI)
Copyright: 2007 The La Crosse Tribune
Contact: http://www.lacrossetribune.com/tools/submit.php
Website: http://www.lacrossetribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/229
Author: Dan Simmons, La Crosse Tribune
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Test)

SPARTA SCHOOLS APPROVE ANONYMOUS HOME DRUG-TESTING KITS

SPARTA, Wis. -- Parents of middle and high school  students in Sparta 
may test their kids for drugs and  alcohol at home under an agreement 
the district entered  into with a national drug-testing company late 
last  month. It allows parents to order testing kits  anonymously 
from the company's Web site --  www.testmyteen.com -- and test their 
kids without the  school district's knowledge.

The first 250 Sparta parents get the first kit free  under an offer 
the company extends to districts that  join. After that, the most 
common test costs $18.99  plus shipping and handling (about $9). Each 
kit is  single-use. Parents in other districts may order  testing 
kits, but they won't get the first kit free.

"We've always been on the lookout for ways to  discourage alcohol, 
drug and tobacco use by students,"  said Sparta Superintendent John 
Hendricks. "We see this  as another tool we can provide for parents."

The St. Louis-based company, Test My Teen LLC, offers a  wide array 
of testing kits. Its basic kit, which  provides nearly instant 
results from a urine sample,  tests for 10 different substances, 
including common  street drugs and a medley of commonly 
abused  prescription drugs. A saliva-based alcohol test and 
a  urine-based tobacco test can be ordered separately.

Mason Duchatschek, the company's executive director,  spoke at the 
Wisconsin Association of School Boards  annual meeting in January in 
Milwaukee, catching the  attention of Sparta School Board member 
Janet Horstman.  She shared information about it with the board, 
which approved the measure March 27.

Duchatschek said a handful of Wisconsin schools have  partnered with 
the company this year, joining hundreds  of other districts 
nationwide since the company's start  in 2005. Duchatschek also owns 
a company that provides  drug-testing kits to corporations but said 
he wanted to find a way to get the kits into the hands of parents.

"The sad reality is that many parents think, 'Yeah,  there's drug use 
in schools, but my kid would never do  it,'" he said. "There are a 
lot of good kids out there  making bad decisions."

The home-testing method puts the decision to test kids  or not in 
parents' hands and keeps the schools out of  it, he said. It also 
costs school districts nothing --  parents pay if they choose to 
order -- and actually  benefits school districts financially.

Under the agreement, Test My Teen agrees to return  "nearly 20 
percent" of profits from testing products to  the participating 
district. The money is earmarked into  a fund to promote 
substance-abuse prevention programs.

Duchatschek said that generous start-up donations from 
Milwaukee-based Noble Medical Inc., manufacturer of  most of the 
testing kits, made the program more  feasible financially. While he 
acknowledged the kits  may be out of the financial reach of some 
families, he  said, he wouldn't deny the kits to needy families who 
sought them, and that the cost of testing should be  measured against 
the alternative.

"Kids are finding ways to afford drugs," he said.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman