During the Tyrone Area School Board’s work sessions and regular meetings in July and August, the issue of drug testing took up most of the meeting.
The new drug testing policy went into effect, and the first test and results have come back to the school.
There were 12 students who were randomly selected by computer, plus administration members Dr. William Miller, Rebecca Erb, Jim Butler and Tony Yaniello also volunteered to be tested.
When the testing took place, one student refused to be tested. That student is considered a first time offender and was placed in the Student Assistance Program (SAP).
The results of the testing returned to the school Wednesday, and out of the 12 students, 10 came back negative, one came back with a positive result for a prescription and one came back positive for morphine.
“The student who came back with the positive for prescription has been worked out,” said Tyrone High School principal Rebecca Erb. “We called the parents of that student, we checked the prescription, verified it with the student’s doctor and everything was clear. The student’s parents were pleased with how the situation was handled and appreciates the effort the school is putting into this program.”
The student who tested positive for morphine will now be a part of the program throughout the student’s time at Tyrone High School.
“According to the policy that we sent out and was approved by the school board, that student is suspended from participating in extra-cirricular activities until a negative test can be obtained,” said Erb. “There is a minimum of 15 days before that student can re-test at their expense. The student will be able to continue to participate in school. This is about getting them help if they need it, and in no way hurt the education of the student.”
The parents of the student with the positive test result were contacted by phone by the school.
“The student will automatically go into the SAP program,” said Erb. “The parents can choose another form of treatment such as sending the student to a rehabilitation facility.”
Letters are being sent to parents of the students who took the test and scored a negative result.
“Of course our goal is 100 percent negative results, but with the problem that is around us we didn’t expect that,” said Erb. “We’ve had great support from the parents and community in this program. We were pleased with how the process went from the computer choosing the names to people who volunteered to take the test to the way the test was handled. We had the opportunity in our first round of testing to guage a lot of things that can happen. We had a student refuse to be tested, we had a student test positive for prescription which was worked out with the help of the parents and the student’s doctor and we had a positive test, where we have the ability to help the student. We will continue to make adjustments, but for our first test, we are pleased with how everything worked out.”
Tyrone Superintendent of Schools, Dr. William Miller was pleased with the first run through the process.
“It went exceptionally well,” said Miller. “We got a good mix of kids and a good chance to evaluate all phases of the system. With the issue of kids and drugs in our community, we believe that this is a positive step in helping with the problem.”
Miller added that the school district will continue to evaluate the testing system and policy.
