Mount St. Mary Academy in Little Rock implemented a drug screening program a year and a half ago, and administrators say it has been well-received by students and parents.
Sister Lisa Griffith, RSM, is dean of academics and oversees the program. She said as far as students are concerned, “it’s not a big deal.”
The all-girls high school is the only Catholic school in Arkansas testing students for drugs.
Officials at both Little Rock and North Little Rock Public Schools said they do not mandate drug testing, but elect instead to focus on drug and substance abuse educational programs.
Sister Deborah Troillett, RSM, said the policy was not because of a “drug problem” at MSM, but rather a reaction to greater access to more dangerous drugs in the community. She is president and principal of the 158-year-old school.
“This isn’t a Mount problem, this is a societal problem,” she said. “It just looks like the environment out there is changing to the degree that we cannot be burying our heads in the sand and pretending like our kids aren’t involved.”
In recent years “kids were accessing drugs that were more powerful, stronger; they were more addictive,” Sister Deborah said. “I mean the whole landscape of what is accessible to kids these days and what they were being able to get a hold of was just frightening to us.”
In the fall of 2007, MSM implemented the program to help students who are using illegal drugs, and give those not using “every reason to say no,” Sister Deborah said.
The mandatory program is meant to give students an excuse not to give in to peer pressure because they can tell friends their school randomly tests for drug and alcohol use. This makes school officials “the bad guys” and lifts the burden off students, she added.
The policy is not about catching a student in the act either.
“It’s an effort to try to get the kid help rather than to get the kid out,” she said. “It’s not about we’re going to do everything we can to catch you. It’s more like we’re just going to make it so you don’t even want to take the chance; it’s just not worth it.”
In the policy, students who test positive four months in a row are asked to withdraw from the school and enter a drug or alcohol rehabilitation program.
“There were some people who felt we were being too lenient by giving people four chances,” Sister Deborah said.
Mainly it was the students who felt the policy was too soft, Sister Lisa said.
“If you were to ask them, I think they would probably tell you that we need to test more and test more students,” she said.
The policy requires 5 percent of the entire student body be tested for alcohol and drug use each month during the school year. That is about 30 students a month, who are randomly selected and tested using urinalysis, Sister Lisa said.
According to the drug policy, the urinalysis detects and measures the use of alcohol and the following drugs within the past few days: amphetamines/methamphetamines, cocaine, opiates, marijuana, barbiturates and benzodiazepines (Valium, Librium, Xanax and other tranquilizers).
Testing happens at different times, so the students cannot anticipate when they would be given, Sister Lisa said.
A certified lab technician from Medical Laboratories of Arkansas Inc., a service of Baptist Health System in Little Rock, administers the tests to students on campus.
The policy also states that any new student admitted after the start of the school year would be drug tested as a condition for admission.
The same holds true for new employees. Anyone considered for a school position is also required to take a drug test, Sister Deborah said.
As for existing faculty and staff, Sister Lisa said they would only be subject to testing, “If there was ever anything that would warrant it.”
Sister Lisa said 300 tests are given a year at a cost of roughly $20 a test. The school received a grant from an anonymous donor to pay for the drug screening program, which costs about $6,000 a year.
 Steps taken for positive test results Click here |
The results of the tests are delivered to Sister Deborah within 72 hours. If a student tests positive once, they are automatically tested for the next three months. With each positive result, greater steps are taken to help the student address her alcohol or drug use.
Students who withdraw from the school after four consecutive positive drug tests may re-apply the following school year.
“We try to keep the door open,” Sister Deborah said. Students who provide “evidence that they’ve worked a program, whether it’s outpatient, inpatient,” may be admitted after testing negative for drugs.
After three semesters of drug testing students, the school has only had one case where a student tested positive three months in a row, and that occurred in December, Sister Lisa said.
As a result, the student’s family chose to withdraw her from the school, Sister Deborah said.
Though this program allows students up to four months to correct their behavior, the result of students caught drinking or using illegal drugs on campus or at a school event, is immediate expulsion. “There’s no tolerance for that,” Sister Deborah added.
MSM began using an alcohol sensor on all students entering school dances in January 2007. Sister Lisa said not only does it detect alcohol on a person’s breath, but it also picks it up from open containers.
Sister Lisa said MSM “had been going back and forth for a number of years about what kind of program to put in place.”
She led efforts to research what other local private and public schools did as well as Catholic schools nationally. The issue was discussed with MSM’s Board of Directors, faculty and parents. By June 2006, the initial policy was written. After a year of review and revision, it was finalized in 2007.
“I can tell you, parents are thanking us,” Sister Deborah said. “It is a non-issue in this school in terms of parents.”
Vernell Bowen, superintendent of Cath olic schools, said she does not have a problem with Catholic schools doing drug testing “as long as they have researched the need and develop an effective policy,” as MSM did before putting their program in place.
“I feel a drug testing policy should be initiated at the local Catholic school level,” she said. “As superintendent, I would not mandate all students in Catholic high schools be drug tested.”
“If a school wants to initiate a program, then my office would support and assist the administrators in the development of the policy,” she added.
“I think we were kind of out there pioneering the way,” Sister Deborah said. “It’s really about how do you help kids make healthy choices for their future, for their life, so they are whole. And I think that’s so consistent with the Catholic mission. As Catholic educators, we want whole, healthy children, spiritually, intellectually, personally and physically.”
Steps taken for positive test results
This summary came from MSM’s “Drug Screening Policy and Procedures.” To access the entire policy download it from www.mtstmary.edu/pdfs/DrugPolicy.pdf.
Positive Results
If a drug test comes back positive, the screening agency contacts the student’s parents to find out if the result may have been caused by legal use of a prescription drug.
The principal is notified of a positive screen only when there is no proof of authorized drug use.
First Positive
The principal schedules a family conference to determine a course of action.
The principal keeps results confidential and will only refer the student to the school’s guidance counselor if requested by her parents.*
The student is automatically tested for the next three months and the parents are responsible for the cost of follow-up tests. After three consecutive negative results, the student’s name is returned to the random sampling pool.
Second Positive
The previous steps are repeated plus the student is referred for mandatory drug/alcohol counseling and the school’s guidance counselor is notified.
The student completes the Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory (SASSI) for adolescents to test for abusive behavior
Third Positive
The principal calls together a review counsel (administrative team and student’s counselor) to determine further action that could include a recommendation to withdraw from school.
Fourth Positive
The student is immediately dismissed from school. She may reapply the following year with confirmation of participation in counseling or drug treatment and a negative drug screen.
*Exceptions: If the student who tests positive is a member of a sports team, spirit group or student government, she is subject to consequences outlined by those organizations as well, and her coach/sponsor will be notified. First Offense: The student is suspended from 30 percent of group or team events and automatically referred to the Student Assistance Team. Second Offense: The student is immediately dismissed from the team or group.
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