Board hears update on drug testing program

Dr. Dale Wisely updated the Mountain Brook Board of Education on the system's current drug testing program at its meeting on Monday, July 13.

Voluntary drug testing is required of all students who use parking passes at Mountain Brook High School. This year, the system updated its testing to allow for more testing more frequently. The system went up from three testings dates per year in 2013-2014 to eight in the 2014-2015 school year.

"We stepped up the program considerably since we had a larger body of students that were in that pool, we increased the number of tests we gave from past years, and probably most importantly, not only did we increase the total number, but we increased the number of test sessions," Wisely said.

Over the course of the 2014-2015 school year, 459 tests were administered. Out of these tests, seven came back positive, each for marijuana. 

If a test comes up positive, the medical director confidentially contacts the family and often finds that the drug is prescribed to the student. The test is usually unable to test for alcohol, which leaves the body too quickly. Other substances such as marijuana stay in the body for up to three weeks. 

Next year, the system has budgeted for nine testing days at Mountain Brook High School and four days at Mountain Brook Junior High School for ninth-graders. A total of 440 tests is planned. Wisely said that positive tests for seventh and eighth-graders are often so uncommon that it would not make financial sense to test students at those levels.

"The balance of this is doing enough testing to increase the deterrents, without incurring unreasonable expense or a major disruption," Wisely said.

The next board meeting will be Aug. 10 at 3:30 in the Charles Mason Board Building at 32 Vine Street.