Woodbridge may drug test students who sign up for sports, parking

WOODBRIDGE — This could become the latest district to require students participating in extracurricular activities to be randomly tested for drugs and alcohol.

The Board of Education is scheduled to introduce a policy for random alcohol and drug testing at its Wednesday meeting. The policy could be adopted at a meeting in two weeks and go into effect next year.

The policy would apply for anyone participating in "athletics, extracurricular activities or school clubs, and/or who have applied for parking permits for on campus parking."

"The Woodbridge Township Board of Education recognizes that the problem of illegal drug and alcohol use presents a continuing challenge to the school and a clear danger to the student population as a whole," the policy states. "The district is committed to maintaining athletics, co-curricular programs, and parking in a safe, healthy, and secure educational environment."

The goal of the policy is to "deter alcohol and other drug use and to provide a means for the early detection of students with alcohol or other drug problems so that referral for evaluation or referral for treatment may be expedited."

Students would be required to submit their consent form before the first meeting of the group they join and will not be able to participate if the form is not submitted by the second meeting date.

Schools Superintendent Robert Zega told MyCentralJersey.com that the purpose of the testing policy is to make the district proactive rather than reactive on alcohol and drug use.

Other districts already have a similar plan in place. In Hillsborough, a first positive test requires a mandatory medical examination, suspension from their activity or parking until the student completes a "preventative education program" and passes another test for drugs and alcohol. A second positive test in Hillsborough comes with a 60-day suspension from their activities.

The Woodbridge policy would carry a 30-day suspension from the activities, while a third test would have a 60-day suspension. While parents in Woodbridge would not be responsible for covering the costs of testing, they will be responsible for paying for any rehab or treatment.