Rose Hill delays decision on student drug testing
The Rose Hill school board wants more time to gather information and get community feedback on a potential drug testing policy for students.
"The board has decided that this issue really needs a little more discovery," said Superintendent Randal Chickadonz. "The timeline they had originally had hoped to set seemed to be a little more aggressive than what they wanted."
The board created a committee to examine the issue at its October meeting. That committee reported back to the board at its Monday meeting.
"They didn't have a clear-cut recommendation because the committee members that were there were split on their commitment to this type of policy," Chickadonz said.
Members of the committee expressed concerns about making sure the policy integrated with other districts with similar policies. Derby, El Dorado and Maize are among the local school districts that use random drug testing on students in athletics or activities.
How to fund the policy is also a point of discussion. Chickadonz said some cities have taxes to help support the program. He said there are ways to make it self-supporting, but the district has yet to dig that deep into the proposal.
"I think what came out of the committee was basically that the timeline wasn't realistic," Chickadonz said. "The hope is to take a couple more months, a few more months, to take a look at it, and have decisions made so that a policy can be put together - if that's the direction we go - for implementation in the next fall."
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