OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — A new drug testing policy at the Crete, Nebraska, Public School District is raising eyebrows.
The policy applies to grades 7-12. Parents and the student need to consent, but it's required for participation in extracurricular activities and to have a parking pass at the high school.
It passed back in July, but parents shared concerns at Monday night's school board meeting.
"Once these kids do get tested, where is that data going to?" one parent asked. "Who's doing the testing? What information are they gonna have on my kid? That's my biggest concern."
A company out of Ohio, Sport Safe, manages the program. It won't be the school.
"It's a way of alleviating them from having to manage all of the different things," Sport Safe's director, Matthew Franz told 3 News Now. He said that allows the school to focus on intervention and removes them from potential biases in random selection.
"We layer everything as best as we can to protect the integrity of the process," he said.
Franz said that includes using a contractor, not school employees, to do the testing when they can. He said a contractor will be used in Crete. The company said it keeps its data encrypted and only sends tests to the lab using student ID numbers. The lab the company is "primarily" using now is in Lenexa, Kansas.
He said the labs have the highest certifications.
"We don't take this lightly as far as making sure that when we call a parent that we have actionable information that is not refuted," he said. The lab keeps a second sample frozen in case the result is disputed.
Running programs like this is what the company does, with about 110 schools across the country. They said they also work with other Nebraska districts including Grand Island Northwest, Ord, and Central City.
"We're in the deterrent business," Franz said. He said the mechanism "gives kids a reason to say no" and allows schools to provide "early intervention to those that can't (say no)."
The ACLU of Nebraska is opposed to drug testing students. The group's legal director, Rose Godinez, says it violates unreasonable search and seizure in the Fourth Amendment.
"Schools are increasingly passing student drug testing policies despite the fact that the government reports and shows that student drug use is on the decline," she said.
Learn more about Crete's policy here. The district did not respond to an inquiry Tuesday.
RELATED: Random drug testing for 7th to 12th graders raising eyebrows in Crete Public Schools District
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