The Freehold Regional High School District is taking steps toward initiating random drug testing among students who are categorized as privileged.

Privileged children as defined by FRHSD administrators are those students who participate in sports programs, afterschool activities and/or who have a parking permit for their high school.

FRHSD Superintendent of Schools James Wasser told members of the Board of Education during their July 27 meeting that a survey had been distributed in June to students at the district's six high schools who were juniors during the 2008-09 school year.

District administrators have been concerned about a rise in drug use, including the use of prescription drugs, that is being seen among high-school-age youths.

Officials said the survey results showed that 48.5 percent of the students who responded to the survey indicated that they have used drugs or alcohol.

Assistant Superintendent Patricia Emmerman said a committee had been established consisting of the six high school principals, members of the Board of Education, administrators and community members. The group was looking into whether the district should move forward with implementing a random drug testing program.

The committee members hope that random drug testing will act as a deterrent to some students who might consider abusing drugs.

"It just gives you something else to be aware of and to think about. If a student thinks, they're at a party, and they think they could risk something they really want, like a parking permit. That parking permit is very, very important to our seniors. If they thought they would be at risk for losing that for even 30 days, which would be the first offense, then they're going to be careful to say no," Emmerman said.

Since some drugs, such as marijuana, can remain in a person's system for 28 days, any incidents that occurred over a weekend could be detected if the student was tested at school, she noted.

Board Vice President Christopher Placitella asked if the survey information that was returned by the students indicated the same amount of drug use at all six schools or a higher level of use at some schools.

Without naming the particular schools, Emmerman said the students' surveys indicated there was a higher level of drug use at some schools.

Placitella wondered if the actual drug use in the high schools might be higher than indicated in the survey, given the possibility that some students who use or used drugs or alcohol may not have filled out the survey.

The committee members reported that the survey company suggested it was likely there were students who are users who did not respond to the survey.

Upon hearing that response, Placitella had two suggestions to try to deal with the issue. His first suggestion was to share the results of the survey with neighboring school districts. He also suggested providing the results to the FRHSD's sending elementary school districts.

"Because this [drug and alcohol use] did not start in 11th grade, and if these are 11th-graders, the chances of having brothers and sisters in the seventh and eighth grade are probably pretty significantly high. And we need to have a comprehensive program, I think, not just a program in the high school," Placitella said.

Emmerman said there are other school districts in New Jersey that use a similar drug testing system. She cited Hunterdon Central Regional High School in Flemington, the Middletown high schools in Monmouth County and Manasquan High School, also in Monmouth County.

Committee members said there are about 60 school districts in the state and about 18 school districts in Monmouth County with a drug testing program.

Board member Tom Caiazza asked if administrators in any of those school districts have investigated the possibility of expanding their random testing policy to all students rather than just those with the privileges.

The committee reported that due to Supreme Court rulings, testing for all students could not be a possibility and said the random testing could only be conducted on students with privileges.

It was noted that at any given time, up to 70 percent of the student body at a high school could be participating in extracurricular activities or hold a parking permit.

Board member Kathie Lavin acknowledge that most of the students at a school could find themselves subject to a random drug test.

District administrators expect to issue the random drug tests to about 10 percent of the privileged students.

For a first offense, a student who tested positive would lose his or her specific privilege, whether it is a parking permit or participation in sports, for a 30-day period.

Board member William Bruno, who is an athletic director in the Brick Township School District, said the program Brick currently has in place acts as a deterrent to drug and alcohol use.

Bruno said the Brick school district conducts tests every Thursday once a particular sports season begins. Band members, cheerleaders, athletes and students who have a parking permit are subject to random testing in the Brick high schools.

He said students entering the district's two high schools are well aware of the fact that there is drug testing, and he said the testing is completely random.

Bruno noted the recent example of a football quarterback whose name was pulled four times for testing in a single school year.

When Emmerman asked Bruno if he had seen the random drug testing act as a deterrent in Brick's schools, he said yes.

"I would say yes, during the season those athletes are participating in … they will not go to a party. If there is a party, they leave because they don't want to have that hanging over their head. [I] can't really say that once the seasons are over. The drivers, however, are very cognizant of the fact that at any time they can get pulled in and lose their driving privilege," said Bruno, who is a former coach and administrator in the FRHSD.

He said if a student's parents do not sign the mandatory form which states that the student may be subjected to random drug testing, then the student is not allowed to participate in a sport.

Board member Jennifer Sutera said she was in favor of the proposed program and asked if there is funding in place to provide it.

Wasser said the testing program's projected cost is $25,000 to $30,000. He said money has been provided in the 2009-10 budget for special resource officers and for drug programming. He said grants will be looked at to supplement any outstanding costs. The superintendent said he did not think the funding of the drug testing program would be a problem.

The FRHSD has already implemented an alcohol detection program which is used at different school events, including proms. Wasser said alcohol detection devices have been used at school events and said the district has seen minimal incidents as a result.

On a related note, the superintendent said many people ask about the possibility of bringing drug-sniffing dogs into the schools more often. Wasser said the reason the dogs are not brought through more often is because Monmouth County does not have the ability to bring the dogs through all of the county's high schools on a regular basis.

He said that as of right now the dogs are not trained to detect prescription drugs, which is the area where the FRHSD sees an increase in abuse.

Placitella wanted to clarify that the survey that was distributed to and returned by last year's juniors included questions about the use of prescription drugs.

Administrators said the survey included questions about the use of prescription drugs.

"Unfortunately, it has confirmed my greatest fears," Placitella said of the survey results.

The board members authorized the administration to develop a policy to implement the random drug testing. The policy is expected to come before the board in August.

Wasser said the random drug testing program is expected to be implemented on Jan. 1, 2010.