Manheim Township school board on Thursday night will begin considering a proposal to implement random student drug testing at the high school next year.

A group of Manheim Township residents, school officials and students is recommending the district implement a testing program and other prevention efforts in grades nine through 12 to deter student drug use.

If the board were to approve the program, Manheim Township would become the sixth high school in the county to randomly test its students for drugs.

The other schools, which began testing as early as 2003, are Hempfield, Lampeter-Strasburg, Conestoga Valley, Penn Manor and Solanco.

Assistant superintendent John Riegel said Manheim Township's policy would be similar to policies at Penn Manor and L-S. There, students who drive to school or participate in extracurricular activities are subject to testing.

Students who fail the tests lose their right to drive to school, play sports or participate in other activities and must undergo counseling.

Additional violations result in stiffer penalties.

Riegel estimated it would cost $15,000 to $20,000 to implement a testing program at Manheim Township High School.

The school board will consider the proposal at its 7:30 p.m. meeting on Thursday. Members are expected to review the measure again in May and vote on it in June.

The school district began considering a testing program last year after several high-profile drug arrests at the high school and the release of a survey that found Township students were abusing drugs and alcohol at a higher rate than their peers at other county schools.

The 2007 survey found that 22 percent of Manheim Township sophomores reported using marijuana in the 30 days prior to the survey, compared with the countywide average of 12 percent.

Nearly 31 percent of 10th-graders said they had been offered, given or sold an illegal drug, compared with the county average of 22 percent.

Township students also reported using cocaine at more than twice the county average and using crack, heroin, methamphetamines, hallucinogens and ecstasy at slightly higher rates than their county peers.

Since the survey results were released, a subcommittee of Manheim Township Community Life Task Force has been studying the issue of student drug use.

In addition to recommending random testing, the group wants the district to expand its alcohol and drug abuse prevention programs for high school students and their parents.

Proponents of drug testing say it gives students another reason to avoid drugs and fight the peer pressure to get high.

Opponents say the tests target the wrong students and often the wrong drugs, missing, for example, prescription medications students may be abusing.

The testing also does nothing to deter students from abusing alcohol, which doesn't remain in a person's system long enough to be detected.

According to a newspaper report published in January, only 36 students of the 3,000 or so screened by county high schools since testing programs began tested positive for drugs.

bwallace@lnpnews.com