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Tag: public schools

  • Oklahoma Public Schools Increase Drug Testing For Students

    Oklahoma Public Schools Increase Drug Testing For Students

    The decision comes on the heels of the state’s voters passing a measure to legalize medical marijuana.

    A public school district in Oklahoma will double the number of students that will be required to undergo random drug testing in the coming school year.

    The move comes on the heels of a recent decision by state voters to pass a measure that allows for legal use of medical marijuana without a qualifying condition, but Bret Towne, superintendent for Edmond Public Schools, said that the increase was “coincidental” with the bill’s passage.

    According to coverage by High Times, more than 700 of the 3,000 students in the district who participate in extracurricular activities will be randomly tested for drugs this year.

    Random drug testing for students in Edmond Public Schools, which has been conducted largely among students in extracurricular activities for the past six years, was reduced two years ago after funding for the district was subjected to cuts. But at a meeting on July 2, the Edmond school board voted to return to previous testing levels, which is the number of students they are legally allowed to test.

    According to Towne, the board’s decision was not directly influenced by the passage of SQ 788, which allows patients to use marijuana for medical purposes after obtaining a recommendation from a qualified physician.

    Unlike most medical marijuana measures, SQ 788 requires no pre-existing health conditions to qualify for the medical marijuana program, and according to Towne, that element was cause for alarm among some parents. 

    “My concern is how it’s going to affect students on campus and the availability [of medical marijuana],” he told Oklahoma’s KFOR News. “We always worry about students having easier access to it.”

    But while the decision to increase the number of tests was a simple matter of voting, deciding how the school district will handle the issue on a broad scale will require more debate.

    As High Times noted, SQ 788 allows anyone 18 years or older to use the drug with a doctor’s recommendation, and grants permission to minors aged 16 to 17 to use medical cannabis as long as they have recommendations from two doctors.

    According to Towne, he’ll wait to see how the Oklahoma Department of Health will rule in regard to medical marijuana use on campuses, and then meet with state school board officials to consider revisions to their current policy. Currently, prescription medication are held and distributed to students by a school secretary. 

    But as Towne said, applying that policy to medical marijuana is “a little bit different situation [sic].”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • How US Public Schools Are Taking Action Against The Opioid Crisis

    How US Public Schools Are Taking Action Against The Opioid Crisis

    From drug searches to peer-support groups, schools across the nation are taking a number of approaches to combat the opioid epidemic.

    Some high schools aren’t wasting time and are confronting the opioid crisis head-on. 

    According to CBS 6 News, Shenendehowa High School in Clifton Park, New York is one such school. At the high school, drug searches with police K-9s take place about twice per month, says Saratoga County Deputy Sheriff Ken Cooper, who serves as the school resource and emergency liaison officer.

    “Kids start out with marijuana use, they don’t think that the next thing is heroin or another drug, but it is,” Cooper told CBS. 

    During the searches, trained K-9s locate any illegal items in a student’s locker. If the dog finds something, it scratches at a locker or barks. According to Cooper, students have reacted mostly positively to the searches. 

    “I think overall students, parents are OK with us coming in and searching. They don’t want drugs on campus,” he tells CBS. 

    Another step being taken at the high school is stationing school resource officers throughout, with the hope that students will feel comfortable talking to them if they have friends who may be using drugs. 

    “We want them to give us the good information, so we can actually help,” Cooper told CBS. 

    Additionally, CBS reports, the school has trained teachers, school nurses and other staff members about the signs of substance use disorders. The school also advertises a help hotline and students are even learning about opioids in their health classes. 

    Shenendehowa High School isn’t alone in taking an early approach to the crisis. 

    In Lakewood, Ohio, a peer-to-peer approach is being taken. High school students have partnered with a nonprofit called Recovery Resources of Cleveland and have created the Casey’s Kids program, according to Cleveland.com. In the program, high schoolers chosen by health teachers and counselors work to educate middle school students about substance use disorders. 

    “There’s a lot of research that says kids sort of have better outcomes in this program when it’s delivered by other kids. They’re more apt to listen and trust information that’s delivered by other kids,” said Lakewood City Schools’ Teaching and Learning Director Christine Palumbo. 

    Some states are even passing laws requiring schools to educate students about the opioid crisis, according to Education World.  

    In 2014, New York passed a law requiring schools to update their health curriculums to teach students about the opioid crisis.

    Recently, Maryland followed suit and passed the Start Talking Maryland Act, which mandates that public schools educate students about the dangers of opioid use, beginning in the third grade. The bill also mandates that nursing staff be trained to administer the opioid overdose antidote, naloxone. 

    “It’s a crisis that we need to identify and make educators as well as parents aware of it, and provide the resources to deal with it,” Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D), the bill’s lead sponsor, told The Baltimore Sun.

    View the original article at thefix.com