St. Viator officials happy with drug testing results; will continue next year

St. Viator High School spent $75,000 to net only nine positive drug tests this year, said the Rev. Mick Egan, president of the Arlington Heights Catholic school.

"The drug testing did exactly what we wanted it to do," he said. "Our students made the choice not to do drugs."

All nine students tested positive for marijuana, Egan said.

A year ago, the 20-member St. Viator board of trustees unanimously approved a new policy to drug-test every student using a strand of hair.

Every student was tested in the first eight weeks of school last fall, and 15 were randomly tested weekly for the rest of the year.

According to Egan, seven students tested positive when all 1,084 students were tested in the beginning of the year. Another two students tested positive during the random testing.

Based on the costs and results, St. Viator paid about $8,300 for each positive test.

"We don't think of it that way," Egan said.

The hair samples were sent to a laboratory in California and tested for cocaine, opiates, PCP, marijuana, amphetamines and Ecstasy, all of which can be detected if used within 90 days of the test. Between Aug. 15 and May 1, St. Viator conducted 1,409 drug tests.

Viator does not pay for counseling or rehab, or a second drug test. Students who tested positive were required to pay $45 to test again in 90 days.

The tests did not detect steroids or alcohol, which nationally is a problem among teens.

One in 10 high school seniors have taken Vicodin, according to a 2006 National Institute on Drug Abuse survey. Also last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a survey that found 36.3 percent of ninth-grade boys reported drinking in the past month, as did 36.2 percent of girls.

Egan acknowledges hair drug testing doesn't guarantee a drug-free student body, but he said his school does the best it can to come close.

"At dances, we use a Breathalyzer to test some students," he said.

St. Viator decided to test every student after hearing some alarming national drug figures last year, Egan said.

"National statistics say that somewhere between 20 and 40 percent of teens either experiment with or use drugs," he said.

But St. Viator officials never thought their student body reflected those national numbers, Egan said.

"I never said we had a drug problem," he said. "That doesn't mean we didn't have some students on drugs."

The drug testing -- which parents support -- will continue next year, Egan said.

"We sent out a letter last week about the results and many parents congratulated us," he said.

Not all students who tested positive were given the same disciplinary consequences.

The seven students who tested positive during the first go-around were given a pamphlet about counseling options, but they weren't punished.

The two who tested positive during the random tests were put on probation, meaning they weren't allowed to participate in extracurricular activities for a period of time, Egan said.