LAKE CENTRAL ADOPTS NEW STANDARDS ON DRUG TESTING

LAKE CENTRAL: Lower threshold lets officials know if student abused
drugs even once.

ST. JOHN -- Parents who want to drug test their children because they
suspect substance abuse or need results for school disciplinary
reasons now can make sure the tests meet Lake Central's
requirements.

The cutoff levels -- the point at which a person would test positive
for drugs -- are not universal among drug testing companies, meaning a
student who used drugs could actually have a negative test result
because the screening level was not low enough.

For example, the district's standard for marijuana is 15 nanograms
while at some labs the standard is 50 nanograms.

"The testing levels vary widely, which means a child could smoke
marijuana and it would show the kid as being clean," Superintendent
Janet Emerick said.

Assistant Superintendent Rocky Killion said the standards follow
Department of Transportation cutoff levels and are what other
surrounding school districts have also adopted. Parents can ask any
lab to test according to Lake Central's protocol.

Screening standards include nine different drugs: marijuana,
barbiturates, opiates, benzodiazepines, PCP, cocaine, amphetamines,
methadone and propoxyphene.

Lake Central's guidelines have a "confirmatory" level, which is the
threshold at which a student who has used a substance would test positive.

"It shows that drugs are in their system but it doesn't say if they
are using a substance a lot or if it was just one time," Killion said.

If a test reveals positive for amphetamines, labs should also check
for methamphetamines. If methamphetamine is found, further testing for
Ecstasy will be conducted.

Lake Central has a drug testing policy, but it has not been
implemented because of legal challenges. The district will most likely
implement it this year, Emerick said.

"The bottom line is drug use is a safety issue," Killion said. "Kids
that are on drugs are hurting themselves and can hurt others. We want
our students to not do anything that inhibits their academic
performance and drugs do that."