By: Cara Latham
ALLENTOWN As the Upper Freehold Regional school board continues to evaluate its policies and programs dealing with drug and alcohol use by students, officials here say more parent involvement is a key factor for success.
Allentown High School Principal Christopher Nagy said in an interview last week that the high school administration made a presentation to the school board at a meeting in June regarding policy changes it had implemented during the past school year, and drug statistics gathered.
The policy changes include shorter out-of-school suspensions and longer in-school suspensions for substance abuse violations, and mandatory drug testing for students suspected of being under the influence, which began with the 2006-07 school year.
Vice Principal Brian Myslinski said that statistics presented to the board in June showed that 20 students were sent for drug tests in the 2006-07 school year, and 10 of them had testedwere positive. None of the students was a repeat offender.
While statewide data from the Department of Education Violence, Vandalism and Substance Abuse reports wereare not available for school districts for 2006-07 to make a comparison, figures from the 2005-06 school year were available.
Compared with other school districts Upper Freehold Regional School District’s district factor group, UFRSD seemed largely to be on par with (though statistically a bit higher than) demographically similar districts that year.
In 2005-06, UFRSD reported 19 drug-related incidents, or incidents in 1.7 percent of the 1,100-student population. In Wall Township, where the student population for the 2005-06 totaled about 1,300, there were 14 drug-related incidents (1 percent). In the Freehold Regional High School District, there were 68 drug-related incidents in 2005-06, although officials there said those statistics accounted for a total number of incidents at the district’s six total high schools. The population for that district totals more than 11,000 (.06 percent).
Upper Freehold school officials say they are pleased with the results of the new policies so far.
Those policies went into effect for the 2006-07 school year and included revising how punishments are administered for drug-related offenses.
Previously, the district’s policy for handling students who had been found to be under the influence of drugs included a five-day out-of-school suspension for the first offense and five to 10 days of out-of-school suspension for a subsequent offense, said BrianMr. Myslinski.vice principal at the high school.
Currently, if a student is caught with drugs in school, the matter is turned over to the police first. If there is physical evidence of drugs that becomes a police matter, it also becomes grounds for suspension. If there is suspicion that a student is under the influence, and school officials are able to verify the symptoms associated with drug use, there is a mandatory drug test, Dr. Nagy said.
If the student or parent refuses to have the student take a drug test, "the student is suspended as if it was a positive finding, and the suspension still goes into effect," Dr. Nagy said. "We would rather have that cooperation of the parents, so we could look at this and see how we can start some type of remediation for the well-being" of the student.
But Mr. Myslinski said that "historically, our parents are very cooperative and supportive and realize that even if it is an inconvenience, it is worth taking the student for a drug test."
What varies from the old policies is that now, on the first offense, the student would receive a two-day out-of-school suspension and a five-day in school suspension, Mr. Myslinski said.
"In that time, the student must meet with the student assistance coordinator three times in those seven days," he said, adding that information from those meetings are shared with parents.
"These are family-related issues, and when there is a particular infraction, especially related to drugs or alcohol … it involves the whole family," Dr. Nagy said.
Dr. Nagy said he understands some parents might feel that the disciplinary action might interfere with their work or related responsibilities, but the policy is necessary.
"This is a social and health-related issue that needs to be taken as such," Dr. Nagy said.
Mr. Myslinski said, though, that parents appreciate the fact that the students are kept in school, rather than out of school for five days.
"They like the five day in-school, so that kids are under school supervision, and not … left home unsupervised if the parents can’t be there," he said.
After a student’s first offense, parents have the option to consent to random drug testing for their child. Because the random drug tests don’t necessarily mean that the student was under the influence while in school, there is no suspension associated with the punishment, but the student’s extra-curricular activities would be suspended, Mr. Myslinski said.
Dr. Nagy said the student could lose driving privileges on school grounds and the abilitiesability to attend social events like prom.
Mr. Myslinski said parents tend to be supportive of the random drug testing.
"I think people appreciate the fact that they have a choice," he said. "But they realize it’s for the greater health of their child."
However, grounds for a second drug offense include five days in out-of-school suspension and two in-school suspension days, Mr. Myslinski said. For a third offense, the student would go up for a board hearing and be given a 10-day out-of-school suspension and a possible recommendation for alternative placement in a school outside the district, Mr. Myslinski said.
"We’re making progress, and of course there needs to be continued cooperation with parents, teachers, administration and local law enforcement," Mr. Myslinski said.

