The Blue Ridge School District will be implementing random drug testing on its students.

The district has been given reports of students in the district using cannabis, both legal and illegal forms. Superintendent of Blue Ridge Schools Susan Wilson says that is an alarming report for her and the school, and they began to notice behaviors in the students that were less than safe.

[audio:drugtest1.mp3]Wilson on the Reports[/audio]

Some other school districts around the area have implemented random drug testing programs. Gibson City has had a similar system in place for several years, and Wilson says they approached Gibson City to find out what their system looks like.

[audio:drugtest2.mp3]Wilson on Approaching GCMS[/audio]

Wilson explains they would put a system in place to where there would be random tests on a sample of students with a chain of command and how the test would be conducted. 

[audio:drugtest3.mp3]Wilson on Procedure of Testing[/audio]

Other school districts have also seen increased reports of students using both legal and illegal forms of synthetic drugs, and even instances of students gettign sent to the emergency room from effects of these drugs.

Wilson feels implementing a drug test would increase the chances of students who are tempted into using drugs to make better choices knowing they may be tested after using them.

More information on the drug testing policy will be available soon on Blue Ridge's website at blueridge18.org.