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Austintown Fitch to drug-test student drivers
AUSTINTOWN
The Austintown school district has expanded drug- testing to include student drivers at its high school for this school year.
The school has been drug- testing student athletes randomly on a weekly basis since the late 1990s.
The school board recently approved the expanded testing program.
Chris Berni, principal at Austintown Fitch High School, said any student who applied for a parking permit for this school year will be required to pay an additional $10 to be put into a pool of students to be selected for a random drug test every week.
Superintendent Vincent Colaluca said about 10 percent of all student athletes and drivers will be chosen each week to be tested at the school’s medical clinic.
“We want to send the message that if you’re driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, we will take serious action against you, such as revoking driving privileges,” Berni said.
The high school performs drug tests through urine analysis. Berni said the high school historically has drug- tested student athletes because they are supposed to be “committed to represent their school.”
“They have signed a players’ pledge that they’re going to do everything they can to represent and support the high school,” Berni said.
Nick Berni, 34, of Austintown, the principal’s brother, said the idea to drug-test student athletes came from a group of about 10 football players from the high school in 1998.
“During a football practice in the off-season, a couple of us got together wanting to break down the stereotype that student athletes are all into drugs and alcohol,” he said.
After presenting the idea to school administration and city officials, Nick Berni said the high school started to drug-test its student athletes.
Colaluca said there tends to be few positive drug-test results from the random drug testing. He said the school is thinking about expanding the drug-testing policy further to include students involved in nonathletic extracurricular activities.
“This is all about being proactive with students who have drug problems and then intervening,” Colaluca said. “It’s not about expelling anyone.”