Private schools to drug test students

When students from three Jacksonville private schools return for the 2020-2021 school year, they may be tested for drugs.

The Bolles School and Episcopal School of Jacksonville sent emails Wednesday to parents, alerting them that both schools will launch random drug and alcohol tests.

Hours later in a separate email, Bishop Kenny High School announced it would do the same in a verbatim email to parents.

The saliva drug test will be administered to a randomly selected group of high school students, the letters said.

The schools have not determined how often they will randomly test.

“Each school will determine its own timeline based on its events and campus environment,” Episcopal School of Jacksonville Head of School Rev. Adam Greene said. “There is not a set time frame.”

Repeat offenders will be subject to discipline, but authorities will not be involved, the schools said.

According to the schools’ frequently asked questions section, the saliva test will check for 15 types of drugs including amphetamines, sedative-type drugs, cocaine, fentanyl, marijuana, opiates and oxycodone.

Greene said the program has been in the works for months, but no one specific incident prompted it.

“No there was not [a noticeable uptick in offenses], but we understand that the pressures and challenges today's teens are facing may not have been as intense in the past,” Greene said. “We want to be sure our students are receiving the support they need to be successful, both now and later.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 26 percent of Duval County high school students in 2017 said they currently drink alcohol. Twenty-three percent identified as currently using marijuana, 5.5 percent used cocaine at some point in their lives and 5.9 percent had used ecstasy. For context, those numbers are down compared to prior years, but only slightly.

That said, the saliva test will also check for traces of alcohol as well as nicotine, which will include vaping. In Duval County, the CDC reported 7.5 percent of high school students said they “currently vape” in 2017.

Earlier this year, the state Department of Health reported a 57 percent increase in the use of e-cigarettes among Florida high school students from 2017 to 2018, with one in four students admitting to vaping.

The numbers prompted state Attorney General Ashley Moody to deem student vaping an “epidemic.” The Times-Union was unable to reach Moody for comment on high school student drug testing.

Legally, private schools have more ability to drug test at random than a public school would.

“There is no Florida statute that prohibits drug testing by a private business entity,” Episcopal said on its website. “Our legal counsel has rendered a firm opinion that we are not violating any legal rights or statutes. In addition, our students attend our school as a privilege, not as an entitlement, and do so pursuant to an enrollment contract which outlines our drug-testing initiative.”

Jimmy Midyette, a staff attorney for the ACLU of Florida, said because the schools aren’t an extension of the government, testing isn’t restricted.

“Private schools come under a completely different set of rules,” Midyette said. “Because the students, or their parents, have made the choice for the student to attend, they are bound by the school's own policies.”

Under current state law, only public school students who participate in sports or extracurricular activities can be subjected to drug testing.

“Students at private schools must abide by the policies of those schools,” Midyette said. “If a student wishes to refuse a drug test in a private school context, they can, but will face discipline under that school's policies.”

In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court expanded public schools’ authority to drug test to allow for random testing of middle and high school students who participate in competitive extracurricular activities. Before then, only student athletes could be subjected to random testing.

Last year, public schools in the Florida Keys started implementing random drug tests for students participating in competitive extracurriculars — which included band members, cheerleaders and drill team members.

Unlike students at Bolles, Episcopal and Bishop Kenny, public school students who may be faced with taking a drug test at school have the legal right to refuse it. But this could result in the student not being able to participate on their team or in their extracurricular activity anymore.

According to the schools’ FAQ section about the drug testing, the program is intended to be “supportive and not punitive,” meaning that a single positive result won’t hurt a student’s record. However, multiple positive test results “could result in a disciplinary infraction.”

Still, Midyette says the ACLU finds drug testing at schools to be problematic.

“The ACLU generally opposes drug testing schemes because there is no concrete evidence that random drug tests deter use,” he said. “All the experts we listen to, from the NEA (National Education Association) to the American Academy of Pediatrics agree that the best way to keep kids away from drugs is to involve them in school and extracurricular activities, not to put up barriers like drug testing that could discourage kids from taking part in healthy activities.”

Greene said the point of the program is to help students and give them access to necessary counseling while encouraging them to “be thoughtful and conscientious about their health and the dangers of drug and alcohol use.”

“Episcopal's No. 1 goal for this program is to ensure students know they are loved,” Greene said. “We are here to help them, and we want them to have resources available to help them be successful in making healthy choices, both now and in the future. We want to create an environment that promotes health and wellness among our students, which is good not only for our schools but all of Jacksonville.”

Emily Bloch: (904) 359-4083