SURVEY DETAILS STUDENTS' USE OF DRUGS, ALCOHOL

The number of Hillsborough High School students reporting being moderately
to highly involved with drugs and alcohol rises from 11 percent to 24
percent between the ninth and 12th grades, according to a drug use survey.

And while Hillsborough students' reported drug use was less than the
national averages, Jean Brendel, the HHS student assistant counselor who
presented the survey results at Monday's Board of Education meeting, noted
there are some disconcerting drug and alcohol trends and problems at HHS.

"The drug use increases throughout the high school years," Ms. Brendel
said. "To me, this is a significant thing."

The drug survey was administered in February to 1,260 high school students
out of 2,311 students after parents gave permission allowing their kids to
be surveyed. The survey included 64 percent of the freshmen class, 54
percent of sophomores, 52 percent of juniors and 47 percent of seniors.

Ms. Brendel noted that, since parental permission was required, the surveys
may result in lower estimates of drug use in a population.

"There is stronger parental involvement with the students who had the
permission slips signed," Ms. Brendel said. "I think our numbers are lower
because of the way we administered the survey."

Ms. Brendel said 22 students since September have been sent for urine drug
screening because of suspicions that they were under the influence. Nine
students tested positive for drugs (marijuana, heroin and cocaine), and 13
students tested negative although eight admitted to using drugs.

"Students are taking herbs and drinking a lot of water to pass the drug
tests," Ms. Brendel said. "They are also buying things on the Internet to
pass them."

Seven students were sent to drug rehabilitation programs during this school
year while four students were referred to the student assistance counselor
by a probation officer when they tested positive for drugs.

Eleven students have been arrested in school or during school hours for
controlled dangerous substances where nine of those arrests were for
marijuana and two for cocaine.

"This is a dangerous time for high school students since now they are most
likely to get addicted to drugs or alcohol," Ms. Brendel said.

Although less than 1 percent of seniors reported drinking alcohol during
school, 30 percent of seniors said that they drink at home and their
parents are aware of the drinking. Ten percent of the seniors reported
doing drugs at home and their parents are not aware, while 20 percent of
the students do drugs at parties.

"I found this a little disconcerting," Ms. Brendel said. "A lot of our
seniors are doing this at home."

After two Hillsborough students were charged with distributing heroin at
the Amwell Road strip mall in April, Ms. Brendel stated that three more
students were taken to drug rehab the day after the arrest.

She said New Jersey has the purest heroin and kids do not have to inject
the drug anymore because they can snort it and buy a bag of heroin for only
$10. It was also reported that one girl from HHS went through heroin
withdrawal in one of her classrooms eventually falling out of her chair.

"We did not hear about heroin before in HHS," Principal Doug Poye said. "I
was disappointed but not surprised. This survey will serve as a baseline
for the years to come and I think that we finally have some real hard data
to move forward with."

Ms. Brendel found a problem with the significant amount of partying done on
the weekends, saying that parents think it's all right for their kids to be
drinking at home, believing that they are safer while drinking under
parents' supervision or in their own house.

Counselor Urges Policy Changes

Hillsborough High School's student assistant counselor, Jean Brendel
recommended several changes to the current drug and alcohol policy during
Monday night's Board of Education meeting.

By reviewing and updating the drug and alcohol policy, implementing a drug
testing site at the school and using Hunterdon Central High School's random
drug testing policy, Ms. Brendel believes that HHS administrators will be
able to better recognize and treat drug users at the high school.

The current drug policy at the high school is a nine-day out-of-school
suspension and one-day in school suspension if caught with drugs or being
under the influence during school hours or on school property.

"When these kids are suspended for nine days and their parents work they
are doing drugs at home," Ms. Brendel said.

Ms. Brendel suggested to have only an in-school suspension policy, when it
involves drugs and alcohol violations, with a mandatory drug education and
treatment program for the students.

Another suggestion was to have an on-site drug-testing facility in the
school, modeling South Brunswick High School, Hunterdon Central High School
and Bridgewater Raritan High School's drug policy.

School administrators who suspect students are doing drugs or high while in
school will be able to send the students for urine or saliva drug testing
inside the school instead of taking them to an outside doctor or lab.

The specimens will then be sent to a lab where they will be examined.

"Legally, we would still need to give the parents a choice to take their
children to a medical doctor," Ms. Brendel said. "There will be a two-hour
window where parents may pick up their children. If they are not there in
two hours, then we can administer the drug test."

The high school would have to find or build a private bathroom, like in the
nurse's office, for the students to use while taking the drug test.

Ms. Brendel also said the bathroom would have to have easy access to the
plumbing for the water to be easily shut off and on since students tend to
dilute the specimen with water.

Hunterdon Central also has a random drug testing policy where students
volunteer to be drug tested at the school. If they refuse to volunteer then
they may not participate in any athletics or extra-curricular activities
and their parking privileges at the school will be revoked.

"Hunterdon Central's random drug testing policy is a very sound policy,"
Ms. Brendel said. "If you want privileges or rights at school, like
parking, you have to volunteer for a drug test."

Hunterdon Central's policy reads, "On a periodic basis during the course of
the school year, the ID numbers of all students will be placed in a pool
from which a designated administrator will randomly draw the names of a
minimum of 10 percent annually for alcohol and drug testing. Those students
selected for testing shall be immediately notified and tested the same day.
A courtesy phone call will be made to the student's parents."

Ms. Brendel said she hopes implementing the random drug testing policy to
prevent drug use and recognize the students who are using drugs in order to
treat them and get them rehabilitated.

But Superintendent Karen Lake expressed concerns over the implementation of
drug testing.

"I believe that students and parents have rights and we would be looking at
a lawsuit," Superintendent Karen Lake said.

Hunterdon Central's drug testing policy was challenged all the way to the
U.S. Supreme Court because of complaints the school was invading students'
privacy and infringing on their rights and privileges.

Several board members also noted legality issues and the affect of
depriving students of athletics or extracurricular activities.

"I don't see it as depriving the students," Ms. Brendel said. "If they
don't do drugs, then they have privileges."

Board member Judith Haas expressed her concern in the accuracy and validity
in the drug test results.

She asked if alcohol would be detected if the students drank on Friday and
took a test on Monday and how the school administrators would be able to
tell if the students were taking prescription drugs or illegal drugs.

Ms. Brendel said that the drug testing is accurate and can differentiate
between prescription drugs and illegal drugs by examining the dose and
other chemicals that may be found in prescription drugs, but not in illegal
drugs.

She said that since alcohol usually stays in the body for only 24 hours, it
will probably not be detected if the students drank over the weekend.

"I think this is a very sensitive issue," president of the board Chris
Pulsifer said. "We need to determine to what extent we have a drug problem.
We need to balance the safety and security of our students against their
privacy rights. If the board is going to take any significant action, I
believe this needs to become an issue for the entire community."