Summit Watch
In response to growing interest in random student drug testing, the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) took to the road in 2004 with regional drug testing summits in Illinois, California, Georgia, and Colorado, and with State summits in Arizona, Mississippi, and Ohio. To date, the agency has hosted 12 summits across the country, most recently on April 25 in Milwaukee, WI, and more are being planned.
The goal of the summits is to inform community leaders and school officials about student drug testing and to promote discussion of this issue at the local level. At each summit, national and regional experts speak on a variety of topics, including the types of testing that are available, legal issues, program development, and the importance of student assistance programs. Also discussed are funding sources, such as grants from the Department of Education. Registration for the one-day summit is free.
From the keynote address to closing remarks, summit participants learn how to develop and sustain an effective, balanced random student drug testing program. Participants are reminded that well-designed and properly implemented programs serve three important public health and safety goals by 1) deterring children from initiating drug use; 2) helping to identify new users before a dependency begins; and 3) helping to identify students with a dependency so that they may be referred to appropriate treatment. Also emphasized at the summits are the issues of confidentiality and the non-punitive aspect of random student drug testing.
As Deputy Director of ONDCP, Mary Ann Solberg frequently delivered the keynote address at the summits. She offered advice for parents, schools, and communities searching for ways to help keep kids from using drugs: Set expectations and give children the tools they need to meet them. In her remarks, Deputy Director Solberg counseled summit participants to be as actively involved in drug abuse prevention as they are in other areas that affect young people. “An assembly once a year on the dangers of drug use is not enough,” she said, adding that the message must be broadcast everywhere—in the classroom, on the athletic fields, in the home, on television—and reinforced whenever possible by role models.
Another regular speaker at the ONDCP summits is Chris Steffner, former principal of Hackettstown High School in New Jersey. An educator for over 30 years, Steffner was instrumental in developing the random student drug testing program implemented at that school in the fall of 2004.
In her presentations on developing a random student drug testing policy, she likens the positive effects of a drug testing program on kids who are using or contemplating the use of drugs to the effects of a police car on drivers who are speeding or about to speed. “On the highway,” she points out, “the moment you see a police car, you modify your behavior. You slow down. You don’t speed.” Random student drug testing has the same effect on children. Like the police car, it gives kids a reason to change their behavior.
Although testing did not begin at Hackettstown High School until October 2004, students reported anecdotally that the program was already deterring drug use in September—a month before any students were tested. Now in its second year, the program has many supporters in the community and will be expanded to include steroid testing.
A complete list of expert speakers and their presentations is available online at www.randomstudentdrugtesting.org. The site also provides news about the next round of regional summits as well as other information on random student drug testing, including the booklets What You Need to Know About Drug Testing in Schools and What You Need to Know About Starting a Student Drug-Testing Program.
2007 Regional Summits
ONDCP-hosted regional summits are scheduled for the following dates and locations:
| January 24, 2007 | Charleston, South Carolina |
| February 27, 2007 | Newark, New Jersey |
| March 27, 2007 | Honolulu, Hawaii |
| April 24, 2007 | Las Vegas, Nevada |
2006 Regional Summit Presentation Topics
Following is a list of topics that were covered during ONDCP hosted summits at various locations around the country in 2006:
- Legal History/ Current Legal Issues
- Research on Student Drug Testing Programs
- Current Drug Testing Technology
- Developing a Student Drug Testing Policy
- The Role of Student Assistance and Support Programs
- Grant Writing Basics
- Department of Education Grant Information
Presentations are available on www.randomstudentdrugtesting.org