Step 2: Establishing Relationships and Building a Task Force
Step 3: Writing Policies and Procedures
Step 4: Implementing and Evaluating
"One private school in the South implemented mandatory student drug testing for all students. When testing first began, 3.4 percent of the students tested positive. After the second year, the percentage of positive tests dropped to 2.1 percent."
Successful programs, regardless of whether they are mandatory or voluntary, for-cause, or random student drug testing programs, have clearly written policies and procedures. Policies generally contain four major sections. In the first section, explain why the school needs the SDT program. Afterwards, an introduction or position statement further defines the role and extent of the program. Next, a discussion section addresses the technical details, options and procedures that the student drug testing program will feature. Lastly, the school's, student's and parent's rights and responsibilities should be addressed.
Policy-writing Checklist:
The links below provide general descriptions of ways to incorporate the above items into a policy. Remember, each policy will be unique and tailored to its own school. The toolkit provides the tools needed to set up a successful student drug testing program.