Green Valley High staff lauds benefits of drug-testing program

By Jared Harmon

Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2008 | 3:47 p.m.

The random drug-testing program at Green Valley High has seen a drop in the number of students found with drugs in their system in the year since its inception last winter.

With 165 students tested since the beginning of the school year, administrators credit the program for a 50 percent drop in positive tests.

The first public school in the state to launch the individually-funded program, the school has tested roughly 15 students per week and has reported four positive tests this school year — none from athletes. Last year, in the spring semester, the school reported eight positive tests, six from athletes.

Green Valley also tests students in orchestra, choir, band and performing arts. Green Valley Principal Jeff Horn said reactions from parents, teachers and coaches have been favorable and feels the low number of positive tests shows the value of the program. He'd eventually like to test all students.

"I'd like to have zero positives but I'm a realist and I know how prevalent drugs are in our society in all age groups," Horn said.

Green Valley senior football player Nick Libonati said he has been tested three times and sees the program as a good influence.

"I like that we're holding ourselves to a higher standard and staying clean," Libonati said. "I think it's better for us and it reflects well on the school that we've had so few positive tests."

Since launching the program last January, Green Valley has been joined by Coronado and Silverado which have begun similar programs.

While Green Valley funds its program through private donations and application fees included in students' annual athletic packets, Silverado and Coronado operate solely from athletic packet revenue. They conduct fewer tests per month and limit their random selections to athletes.

Silverado has conducted 64 tests with three positives while Coronado reported about 70 tests with two students testing positive.

Students who test positive are given a six-week athletic suspension, per Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association guidelines. The suspension can be reduced to two weeks with the completion of a substance abuse program.

"I think the program is going well and accomplishing what we set out to do," Coronado Assistant Principal Sam Johnson said. "Things have been running smoothly. The only real problem has been funding."

Ray Mathis, the Clark County School District's executive director of instructional support and student activities, said while the results from the three schools are promising, a move to a district-wide program is unlikely.

"As far as I know, nothing has been discussed beyond the current situation of allowing each school to decide for themselves," Mathis said. "The main concern is funding. I don't know that the district could support that kind of program district-wide especially with the budgetary concerns we're already facing."

Johnson estimates the cost per year between $2,500 and $3,000 or about $30 per test.

"We felt a program like this was what's best for our school and our students, but if three schools are doing it I think they all should," Silverado Assistant Principal Jerry Cornell said. "It should be all or nothing. Right now our students are being held to a higher standard."

Allen Lichtenstein, general counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern Nevada, said the organization has received several calls from concerned parents who feel the testing is an invasion of privacy.

"We believe there is nothing quite as useless as random drug-testing for football players when there's not enough money for teachers and books," Lichtenstein said. "It's a feel-good program that violates basic privacy rights. This was our position last year and it continues to be our position."

Jared Harmon can be reached at 990-8922 or jared.harmon@hbcpub.com.