DRUG TEST FIRM CLAIMS 97% ACCURACY

Principal Says No Training Needed to Use Drug, Alcohol Test
Kits

ONEIDA - Now that students are back to school, Oneida's new drug
testing policy will be put to the test - but not often, administrators
believe.

"Our experience is that, 90 percent of the kids or more, when they
appear to be under the influence and are brought into the office and
are examined by the principal, the nurse or both, and everybody
believes that they appear to be under the influence, more than 90
percent of the time they admit that they had something before they
came in," said Superintendent Ronald Spadafora.

The district recently adopted a new policy that will allow
administrators to use a saliva-based test called Oratect on students
they feel are under the influence of drugs or alcohol who have denied
being so, Spadafora said.

"It's just like any other procedure that we have," said High School
Principal Brian Gallagher. "We have to have reasonable suspicion."

So far, Gallagher and Spadafora said they haven't had any parents
raise concerns with the testing.

"One question came up in one of the student assemblies," Spadafora
said. "That was what happens if the test comes back negative. If it
comes back negative, then we apologize and say we incorrectly
suspected you're under the influence."

"I think the biggest concern is for the students to be safe,"
Gallagher said. "At the end of the day, it's about safety and security."

The test, which costs $16 for each swab, can identify alcohol in a
student's system, as well as methamphetamines, amphetamines, cocaine,
opiates, PCP and marijuana.

It will be administered by Gallagher or vice principal Tom Calabufo.
Gallagher said that there was no special training required and that
the kit came with instructions that he has read through "quite
thoroughly."

At most, Gallagher and Spadafora said they expect to use the test only
a "handful" of times throughout the year.

"A couple of times - a few times a year, maybe," Spadafora said.
"Certainly, it'll be available at dances, if kids walk in that appear
to be under the influence, that could potentially increase the us, but
really, a few times a year, a handful of times a year is probably the
limit to which we'll use it."

According Branan Medical Corporation's website, the oral test is
"shown to be greater than 97 percent accurate when compared to
laboratory based screening and confirmation testing."

Under the old policy, Spadafora said that the identification of
students who were under the influence was less accurate.

He explained that the previous policy is "the assessment done by the
administrator and/or the nurse who look at the student and look for
the various signs, and if they're wrong they have nothing to fall back
on."

No drug test, whether the previous system of looking for signs, or the
use of the oral test, are done one-on-one, Gallagher said.

"We always have somebody with us when we have that conversation with a
student," he said. "We would never have that conversation with a
student about drugs or alcohol without someone present."

Gallagher stressed that the test is simply a way to ensure that all
those who attend the school are safe.

"I think, at the end of the day, the students know it's about safety,"
he said. "The last thing we would want is a student who is under the
influence of drugs or alcohol to get into a car, or have someone get
in a car with him."