Randomly drug testing students is preventative, not punitive, Jerome Nettles, of Advanced Screening Solutions, said Friday, asking the Lowndes County School District Board of Trustees to consider on-site drug testing at schools.
Nettles proposed the district enter into a contract with Advanced Screening Solutions, which is in its seventh year of operations, to “generally test” faculty, staff members, bus drivers and students enrolled in extra-curricular activities requiring them to operate a motor vehicle.
“It gives students a reason to say, ‘No matter what you offer, I’m not going down that road,'” Nettles told the board, adding students now “don’t feel there’s enough reasons to say no or to walk away” from offered drugs.
Nettles noted the testing would not single anyone out and would be conducted with random selection.
“Our entire goal is to allow students to know that after high school, there is the real world,” he said. “They’re going to run into random drug screenings. It’s just the world we live in now.”
Laboratory screenings would be performed with urine, oral fluids and hair follicle samples and results generally would be returned to the district within three business days.
Nettles asked the board to consider a contract stipulating a minimum of 30 people would be tested in one trip at a cost-per-student of below $23.
Board President Jane Kilgore said the board would consider the proposal; no action was taken.
The board also is considering a proposal for an upgraded comprehensive camera monitoring system for district schools.
Stephen Carpenter of North Atlantic Security, which has served the district since 2007, said the new system, which would monitor all security cameras in the district, could be up and running by Tuesday.
“West Lowndes High School (currently) has analog cameras,” he said, detailing a need for an upgraded system. “They’re first-generation cameras and some are not working. West Lowndes Middle School has some areas with no cameras. And two of their 16 cameras don’t work and two or three are pointing at nothing. West Lowndes is the most needy.”
The board was asked to consider entering into either a 36- or 60-month contract, which includes a 24-hour monitoring service and the distribution of an iPad to each principal and the district superintendent, so they can immediately view any security breeches.
Carpenter reported the Mississippi Department of Education could fund 100 percent of the service, with no interest accrued, and the district would have 15 years to repay the funds.
Kilgore said the board would take the matter under advisement.
In another matter, representatives of EcoLab awarded grants to seven out of 30 LCSD teachers who applied.
In the district, seven projects — including two at West Lowndes Elementary School, two at Caledonia Elementary School and three at West Lowndes High School — were awarded $14,748 in grants.
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