New Mexico Private School to Start Random Student Drug Tests

(FOX News) - A private high school in New Mexico plans to conduct random drug tests of its students, amid a growing trend aimed at curbing drug use.

Officials at St. Michael's High School in Santa Fe, which has more than 700 students in grades seven through 12, sent out emails to parents this week and posted on Facebook that it plans to begin hair-based testing next fall.

"The random drug test isn't intended to target or punish anyone; our goal is to support our students by, hopefully, preventing them from developing drug habits that can affect their health, safety, intellectual development and athletic performance," the letter states. "Implementing a random drug testing program at St. Michael's will give our students an easy excuse to say 'no' when their peers pressure them to experiment."

The school intends to hold a "lottery" in which 10 to 15 percent of the student body will be selected to have hair samples sent to a California lab to be tested for cannabis, opiates, PCP and methamphetamine.

Students who test positive will get 90 days before a second test will be taken. If they fail again, they will be kicked out of the school.

"We are trying to be proactive. We don't want to stick our heads in the sand," Principal Sam Govea told FOXNews.com. "This will build up students' refusal skills."

Govea added that he implemented similar programs at previous schools where he worked, with resounding success.

"Kids were coming up to me and telling me how they used it as an excuse at a party. Doing this builds a refusal arsenal," he said.

Govea said the response among parents has generally been positive, adding, "It outweighs the negative [response] two-to-one."

But some parents do not like the idea of random drug testing.

"I think that St. Mike's should stick to teaching academics and let us parents do the parenting," Carol Campbell told The Santa Fe New Mexican.

St. Michael's is a private school and not bound by the laws governing public schools, where testing can only be done on students who participate in athletics or extracurricular activities.

Read more: FOX News