Students who participate in any high school activity may be subject to random drug tests in the future. North Platte High School administration discussed the idea with student representatives at the student advisory committee meeting on November 17. Principal James Ayres said, “Students would sign a list when they’re freshmen, that would be good for four years. If a student decides later that he/she doesn’t want to be randomly drug tested, then they can’t participate in any activities for a whole calendar year.”

Students suggested that the school pay for tests that came back negative, meaning that no drug traces were found in the system, and students would pay for positive tests. The tests cost approximately $150 per test. Ayres said, “We need to look at the price of the tests, and how often we would do the tests, then we would budget the money.”

When asked when the testing would come into effect, Ayres said, “We would try to have it ready for next year. There is a lot of things that need to happen first, basically the details on how the program will be ran, the consequences, and liability issues. Ayres said they want to make sure all possible issues that might arise have been discussed.”