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http://www.statesman.com/news/education/san-marcos-school-district-stops-testing-students-for-979535.html
School officials say the few positive drug test results don't warrant the cost.
While other school districts are just beginning to randomly test students for drug use, the San Marcos district has decided after testing for six years that the results aren't worth the cost.
District officials decided to abandon the program, which in 2004 began random drug testing of students in extracurricular activities. Since then, five of the 2,880 students tested were found positive for drug use.
"We would have had more positives if there was a problem," said Kathy Hansen, school board president. "If it was a problem, we would have kept the program going."
The state already requires the University Interscholastic League to randomly test for anabolic steroids in high school athletes. That testing also has produced few confirmed positive steroid results.
The spring 2010 UIL steroid testing report showed that of 3,308 students tested, none had confirmed positive results. In the fall of 2009, two of the 3,133 students tested had confirmed positive results. Since the program started, 21 of the more than 51,000 students tested had confirmed positive results.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that testing athletes and students in all extracurricular activities for drugs is legal.
In San Marcos, a $36,000 federal grant that dried up this year had been paying for the bulk of the district's drug testing program. During the six-year program, the district spent more than $11,000, or less than $2,000 annually, out of its own coffers. Continuing the testing would have cost the district $8,000 to $10,000 annually, an amount district officials didn't want to take from other programs in an already tight budget season, Hansen said.
San Marcos students who tested positive could not participate in the extracurricular activity for a period and had to undergo mandatory counseling; they could resume participation after three negative test results.
The UIL, which started its steroid testing of students in the 2007-08 school year, also has scaled back its program because of the state's own budget crunch. The state originally designated $3 million annually for the program; now the program receives $750,000.
Read more at: http://www.statesman.com/news/education/san-marcos-school-district-stops-testing-students-for-979535.html
School officials say the few positive drug test results don't warrant the cost.
While other school districts are just beginning to randomly test students for drug use, the San Marcos district has decided after testing for six years that the results aren't worth the cost.
District officials decided to abandon the program, which in 2004 began random drug testing of students in extracurricular activities. Since then, five of the 2,880 students tested were found positive for drug use.
"We would have had more positives if there was a problem," said Kathy Hansen, school board president. "If it was a problem, we would have kept the program going."
The state already requires the University Interscholastic League to randomly test for anabolic steroids in high school athletes. That testing also has produced few confirmed positive steroid results.
The spring 2010 UIL steroid testing report showed that of 3,308 students tested, none had confirmed positive results. In the fall of 2009, two of the 3,133 students tested had confirmed positive results. Since the program started, 21 of the more than 51,000 students tested had confirmed positive results.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that testing athletes and students in all extracurricular activities for drugs is legal.
In San Marcos, a $36,000 federal grant that dried up this year had been paying for the bulk of the district's drug testing program. During the six-year program, the district spent more than $11,000, or less than $2,000 annually, out of its own coffers. Continuing the testing would have cost the district $8,000 to $10,000 annually, an amount district officials didn't want to take from other programs in an already tight budget season, Hansen said.
San Marcos students who tested positive could not participate in the extracurricular activity for a period and had to undergo mandatory counseling; they could resume participation after three negative test results.
The UIL, which started its steroid testing of students in the 2007-08 school year, also has scaled back its program because of the state's own budget crunch. The state originally designated $3 million annually for the program; now the program receives $750,000.
Read more at: http://www.statesman.com/news/education/san-marcos-school-district-stops-testing-students-for-979535.html
