Manheim Township school board is scheduled to take a final vote today on a proposed drug-testing program that has, so far, generated little controversy.
If the board approves the policy at its 7:30 p.m meeting, the district would become the sixth in Lancaster County to randomly test its students for drugs.
The policy would apply to all Manheim Township middle and high school students who participate in extracurricular activities or drive to school.
In recent weeks, one district parent and one high school student have spoken out against the proposal at school board meetings.
Another parent complained that the random testing would run counter to the desire of many parents to establish a level of trust with their children.
School board members have said the testing would be part of a larger effort to teach students about the dangers of drugs and alcohol.
"I think we're trying to do everything we can to give kids the message that it's a bad thing to do," school board president Hannah Bartges said last month.
"We're at the point that we can't afford not to do it," she said of the testing.
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Manheim Township's proposed policy is based on similar drug-testing programs in place at Lampeter-Strasburg and Penn Manor high schools.
Conestoga Valley, Solanco and Hempfield also randomly test their high school students for drugs.
Manheim Township began considering random testing last year, in the wake of high-profile drug arrests at the high school and the release of a 2007 survey that found Township students were using drugs and alcohol at much higher rates than their peers at other schools.
District officials estimate the policy would apply to about 1,200 students at the high school and several hundred at the middle school.
To participate in extracurricular activities or drive to school, students and their parents would have to agree in writing to participate in testing.
About 600 tests, at $25 apiece, could be administered in a given year, for a total annual cost of $15,000.
Students would be selected at random for testing by an outside contractor and would have to provide a urine sample within 2½ hours of being called to the testing area.
In addition to illegal drugs such as marijuana, cocaine and heroin, students would be tested for misusing prescription or over-the-counter drugs.
In some instances, the tests may also screen for alcohol.
Each sample would be split in two, with one portion sent to the lab and the other kept in storage. If a question were to arise about the initial test, the second portion would be tested.
If a sample comes back positive, school officials would meet with the student and his or her parents to discuss what drugs the student was legally taking that may have influenced the result.
If the positive result is confirmed, the violator would be barred for 60 school days from activities or driving privileges.
The suspension would be reduced to 40 days if the student participates in school-based drug counseling.
Violators would have to consent to continued testing for a year and would be required to submit a "clean" sample before they could regain their privileges.
A second violations would result in a one-year suspension, and a third violation would ban a student from participating in activities or driving to school for the rest of his or her academic career.
Test results would not be included in a student's academic record and would be destroyed when the student leaves school.
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Manheim Township High School senior Sam Rosen, at a board meeting last month, said the testing program would add to the feelings of mistrust between students and administrators and "create unrest in the academic environment."
He disagreed with the administration's contention that random testing would deter students from using drugs.
"Students that have the ability to make the choice and say no, they would have made that choice before they started doing drugs, and the kids who made that choice aren't going to stop," he said.
Rosen also questioned whether the policy would do more harm than good.
"If the kid does drugs, what do you think they're going to be doing when they go home and they can't do their sports and they can't do their activities?
"They're going to do more drugs."
But school board members said they must do something in the face of an "exponential" increase in student drug violations in recent years.
They agreed that parents should take the lead in teaching their children about the dangers of drugs.
But in many cases, that's not happening.
Only 12 adults and four students attended a recent seminar held by Manheim Township police on identifying the signs of drug and alcohol abuse, board member Don Reed said.
"That indicates to me total apathy," he said. "We've got to do something at a school level because it's not happening at a parental level."
Board member Bill Murry said he lost friends to drug abuse in the 1970s and doesn't want that to happen today.
"I don't care if it costs the school board $30,000," he said. "If it saves a couple of lives, it's worth it."
The board is scheduled to vote on the policy during its regular meeting at 7:30 p.m. today in the administration building on East Oregon Road.
If the policy is approved, testing would likely begin in the fall.