Feds: Labs not required for school drug tests Nurses have done job at a lower cost Tuesday, July 17, 2007 • BY BEV McCARRON • Star-Ledger Staff The White House is sending a message tomorrow to the state board of education: Don't force school districts to use costly state-licensed labs to conduct random drug tests on students, a requirement school officials fear will kill school programs. Bertha Madras, deputy drug czar in the federal government's war against drugs, plans to speak at a hearing in Trenton tomorrow on proposed new rules that would require state-licensed clinical labs to collect and test urine samples for a variety of recreational drugs. Madras, a Harvard professor on leave to work for the U.S. Department of Education in drug prevention, said she plans to point out to the New Jersey school board that procedures schools now use work fine. Most districts use school nurses to conduct the tests at a cost of $10 to $12 each. "We've had no complaints from any schools involved in this process," she said. "We have a system that has proven to be effective and accurate and acceptable to over 500 school systems (nationwide) that do the test." Districts have reacted to the proposed rules with alarm. Most use school nurses to screen urine or swab saliva for the presence of drugs and alcohol. If the screening indicates a positive result, the sample is sent to a lab for further analysis, which can cost anywhere from $35 to $60 for the lab test. Some 20 districts in New Jersey are using random testing as a drug prevention tool, and many more are considering it for the coming year. Madras said about half a dozen in New Jersey receive federal grants to help pay for their programs. State officials, who are establishing parameters for the growing school drug-testing programs, said the rules are intended to ensure reliability in the tests. The rules do not affect the steroid-testing program administered by the New Jersey Inter-Scholastic Athletic Association. Under the proposal, which is scheduled for adoption in October, districts that test students would have the option of transporting them to a state lab to be tested, contracting with a lab to send a representative to a school or obtaining a state license to conduct the tests. The state Department of Education doesn't know how much the new rule will add to the cost of drug testing programs, but in a statement on the economic impact of the regulation acknowledged it "will create additional costs to district boards of education that opt to perform random testing of alcohol or other drug use for students." The requirement for lab tests comes from the state Department of Health, which insists on the use of a state-licensed lab because the tests are being used to determine if a student has a drug problem and needs to be referred for treatment. Susan Martz, director of DOE's Office of Program Support Services, said while schools are required to maintain programs on alcohol, tobacco and drug use prevention, intervention and treatment, a voluntary random drug testing program is just one of many strategies they can use. In Pequannock, the high school tests students involved in sports, extra-curricular activities and who park in the school lot, while the middle school asks parents to voluntarily sign up to have their children tested. The district gets a federal grant and follows federal guidelines in administering its program. Middle school Principal William Trusheim is worried about the impact on the drug testing program, in part because the state guidelines say drug testing should be limited to high school students.. He believes random drug testing is an important deterrent and said his school has never turned up a positive test. "I certainly want to make sure we have due diligence whether it's sample collection or any part of it," Trusheim said, who added an emergency medical technician collects the samples. "But I'm also concerned the requirements on the schools be reasonable." Hillsborough is one of several districts considering random drug tests. Interim Superintendent Lisa Antunis said the district won't move forward until it determines what impact the new regulations will have. "We'll put it on hold until we get an answer," she said. David Evans, executive director of the Drug-Free Schools Coalition, an advocacy and resource group for school districts, plans to be at the hearing tomorrow as well. He said the state should not be requiring such strict tests for schools. Even employers who drug-test aren't required to use state-licensed labs, he said. Neither does the Department of Corrections, which requires drug tests of parolees. "We're talking about kids," Evans said. "These programs have demonstrated they clearly reduce drug use. The purpose of this law is to save lives and if you decrease the drug testing program, young people are going to die." Bev McCarron may be reached at bmccarron@starledger.com or at (908) 429-9925. © 2007 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with permission.