Grants For Student Drug Testing Programs
Department of Education Awards Grants for School-Based Student Drug Testing
In June 2007, the Department of Education awarded grants totaling $1.6 million for School-Based Student Drug-Testing Programs to 15 grantees in 7 states.
“In order for our students to succeed academically, they have to come to school ready to learn,” says, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings. “This means students need to make smart decisions outside of the classroom, especially when it comes to drugs. Random student drug testing helps keep students healthy, both by discouraging drug use in the first place and detecting drug abuse so that it can be treated.” Since 2003, the Department of Education has awarded 89 grants covering over 100 school districts to develop and implement, or to expand, school-based random drug testing programs for students in grades 6 through 12.
School-based random student drug testing programs funded under the program must be limited to students who participate in the school’s athletic program, other students engaged in competitive, extracurricular, school-sponsored activities, and students who, along with a parent or guardian, have provided written consent to participate in a random drug-testing program. Authorized by section 4121 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the grants are supported through the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools.
| Information about the grant program, including the 2008 School-based Student Drug-Testing Programs grant competition, is available at: http://www.ed.gov/programs/drugtesting/index.html |