MOBILE, Alabama — Mobile County school officials are pushing to enroll more students in a random drug testing program this fall, expanding the effort down into eighth grade for the first time as the school system works with the Drug Education Council to keep the initiative growing.
Clean results so far
The program’s first round of roughly 120 screenings this year came back completely clear, according to Larry Mouton, executive director of the school system’s career and technical education department. The Drug Education Council, known locally as the DEC, oversees the testing and now operates with a $120,000 budget and three full-time staff members dedicated to the schools.
Who gets tested
The testing pool currently covers any Mobile County high schooler involved in extracurricular activities, students who drive themselves to campus, and anyone who volunteers to be included. Mouton estimated that close to 80 percent of the district’s high schoolers, or about 16,000 students, now fall into that pool. Every two weeks, 15 names — 10 primary selections plus five alternates — are drawn at random from each of the county’s 12 high schools, and those students are called in to provide a urine sample screened for 11 different substances, including marijuana, cocaine, opiates, methamphetamine, ecstasy and synthetic marijuana known as spice.
Middle schoolers can opt in this fall
Following requests from parents and administrators, the DEC is now extending a voluntary version of the program to eighth-graders, with testing set to begin in middle schools by the end of October. Unlike the high school program, middle school participation requires families to actively sign up rather than being automatically included through extracurricular involvement. DEC Executive Director Virginia Guy said the push for younger students came from a groundswell of requests from families and educators who wanted the option available earlier.
More than testing
Guy emphasized that education and counseling are central to the program, not just the screenings themselves. The DEC’s three staff teachers visit schools daily to talk with students about the consequences of drug use and to make sure families know that counseling and free testing support is available through the council, whether or not a student is part of the official testing pool. At its most recent meeting, the Mobile County school board approved a $25,000 contract with the DEC to help fund the expanded effort, joining other longtime supporters that include the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office, the Mobile County District Attorney’s Office, the United Way of Southwest Alabama, the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce and a number of local businesses.
Neighboring Baldwin County has taken a different approach and does not run a comparable drug testing program in its schools. High school principals there previously told the Baldwin County school board that such testing does not effectively reach the students most at risk and can disrupt classroom instruction time.