Carroll ISD talking about random student drug testing

Carroll ISD school leaders will hear from parents Monday night to discuss a proposal to begin random drug testing of students who take part in extracurricular activities.

Much of what's being proposed has not been ironed out. The meeting will be the first of many to work through the issues before the start of the school year.

The Carroll ISD school board says it's actually been thinking about doing random drug testing for a few years. They will begin a conversation about how and when they'll start the testing in the district.

The drug testing will be random for students in grades 9 through 12 who participate in sports and extracurricular activities. It could affect about 2,300 students in the district.

For those students, the random drug testing will be mandatory. The testing could begin as early as the fall.

The district says it's in the best interest of the health and safety of all student. The goal is to discourage drug use and to provide assistance to families of students who test positive.

Some parents think it's a good thing for all school districts.

“We don't know what our kids are doing,” said parent Beth Fountain. “We need to make sure we're talking to them, that there are consequences and responsibilities for being athletes and students. We need to make sure they're being held accountable."

Some parents say they want to make sure the testing is random and want to know how that process will work.

The school board says it won't act until they receive all the results of a survey that closes on June 15. More than 2,000 people responded in the first 24 hours of the survey.

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