MONROE — While some Monroe school district Policy Committee members may agree to disagree on the prevalence of drugs in the district, Monroe High School administrators contend there is a drug problem.

The Policy Committee moved one step closer to implementing a random drug testing policy for MHS students in co-curricular activities, including athletics and clubs, as early as this fall by agreeing to send a proposed plan to the Monroe Board of Education June 25.

“We know there is a problem,” MHS Associate Principal Jeriamy Jackson said during a committee meeting Monday. “We don’t want to wait two years to address it. We want to start addressing it now and build it in.”

The district modeled its proposed random drug testing policy based off the school district in De Pere. In the proposed policy, a certain number of students would be given a drug test every month on a random basis. Each student would be assigned a number, and a computer would select certain ones to submit urine for screening. Officials from Monroe Clinic would test students at school.

Monroe Policy Committee and school board member Les Bieneman supports universal random testing for all district students and staff to avoid singling out those in extracurricular activities.

“I don’t particularly like the assumption of guilt that goes with it,” Bieneman said of the random testing of only students in co-curricular activities. “It seems to me like profiling. … You should be testing everyone. If we have kids in sports, I want their coaches tested. I want the community volunteers tested. I want the administrators tested who are administrating these coaches and most of all I want the board tested … This ‘do as I say and not as I do,’ I don’t like that.”

Only five of the 15 school districts in Monroe Clinic’s service area have random drug testing policies, and they are all in Illinois. Monroe District Administrator Rick Waski said only about 5 percent of the school districts in Wisconsin have random drug testing policies.

“I think (random drug testing) will lead to a lot of questions and dialogue, and I don’t know if all that dialogue is bad,” Waski said. “I think some of the questions and dialogue will probably get people to talk about something that they haven’t been talking about as openly as they should.”

Fellow Policy Committee and school board member Mary Berger is a proponent of the policy. She said MHS students in co-curricular activities have to abide by a higher standard.

“One of the things I consider is extracurricular activity is a privilege,” Berger said. “We already know not everyone makes the team. Not everyone can be included or play. … If one of our stipulations is that we want you to be free and clear of drugs, I think that is a fair thing to start with that and say we want our athletes to uphold the values we are setting. I don’t think it’s realistic to think we can afford to randomly drug test all of the kids that are in school. It’s a different thing when you sign up for that. You are signing up to live by a code of conduct.”

Committee members are considering listing the various drugs students would be tested for in the activity code, which is updated on an annual basis. The board is currently reviewing a potential nine-panel drug test that would include marijuana, cocaine, opiates, methamphetamine, PCP, methadone, amphetamines, barbiturates and benzodiazepines.

The test will give either a negative or a non-negative result. A non-negative test would be sent to another lab for a second test to verify the result. 

A separate swab would have to be used to test for nicotine if that was included. 

Detecting the number of students who are arrested or violate the athletic code can be a challenge depending on the drug. 

“I have kids every day that I suspect are high, and we bring the police in and they can’t do anything unless they are possessing it or have paraphernalia,” said Jeriamy Jackson, MHS associate principal.

According to the state Department of Public Instruction’s Wisconsin Youth Risk Behavior survey in 2017, 18 percent of students ages 16-17 had smoked marijuana in the last 30 days and 35 percent had smoked marijuana at some time in their life.

“I don’t know why we would suspect our kids would be any different,” Medenwaldt said.

Monroe football coach Toby Golembiewski has safety concerns about the district’s liability if a player is taking drugs and injures someone on the field during practice or in a game.

“If this is happening and we are not trying to do something about it, I don’t know where we stand with liability if we are in the weight room training or if we are out on the football field and this kid injures someone or himself,” Golembiewski said.

He also suggested the policy could “effect a culture change” if it stopped most students from trying drugs.

Mike Figi, a Monroe junior varsity football coach, is a concerned parent who has heard the pleas from players about drug use of teammates in the weight room at the high school.

“(The players) are frustrated that their peers are engaged in harmful activities that is a detriment to their team,” said Figi, who attended the policy meeting and spoke during the discussion. “The sooner (drug testing is enacted) the better. That is when the deterrent will start — when they know there are ramifications.”

The committee pondered looking into universal random drug testing for all students, staff and coaches. That may be the long-term goal for some, but they could run into legal issues if they extend the random drug testing to teachers, staff and coaches.

Waski said districts can only randomly drug test staff with suspicion or at the time of employment. 

Some searches conducted by the high school are universal, Waski said, adding that high school administrators often do locker and car searches.

“There’s two very simple reasons why we can do that,” Waski said. “Number one, the lockers are our property. No one can have an expectation of privacy because they are school property. In order to park in the student parking lot, you have to be registered. People have been granted permission to park there.”

Bieneman lobbied for the district to be at the forefront of a larger policy change.

“I think it’s one we should be willing take on and see,” he said of universal random testing. “It could be kind of a model. It also sends a clear message that we are in this together.”

Jackson questioned what the preventative measure would be for students not part of a co-curricular activity.

“The preventive measure is you don’t get to play the sport or do the activity if you are found positive,” Jackson said. “What would happen to a regular school student?”

Policy Committee and board member Amy Bazley favors starting with a co-curricular random drug testing plan.

“I think this is the first step,” she said. “Subjecting everyone is like flooding the town because the house is on fire.”

Bazley said she wants the administration to have a plan when a random drug test is called into question or if certain students get randomly selected twice or more than once in a year or several months. She also wants a plan in place if and when a test comes back positive for drug use.