Conejo District OKs Drug Testing Plan for Westlake High

Westlake became the first Valley-area high school with drug testing when the Conejo Valley Unified School District voted 5-0 Wednesday night to adopt a voluntary plan.

The board also tabled a proposal for mandatory drug testing at Newbury Park.

Dennis Sakai, the team doctor for the Westlake football team, said football players will be able to register for testing in two or three weeks.

The names of five players will be randomly selected by a Westlake administrator each week. Results of the tests will be known only to the athlete, his parents and his physician.

If an athlete tests positive, he will not be removed from the team or disciplined in any way by the school.

Sakai said that the testing program was not designed to keep athletes under the influence of drugs from hurting themselves or other players, but rather to “give the athletes a way to say no” to peer pressure to try drugs or alcohol.

“We recognize that there is a drug problem in this community as well as the nation,” Sakai said. “Among the athletes at Westlake I don’t think we have much of a problem. We’re trying to prevent one.”

Sakai said several steps must be taken before testing can get underway. Consent forms have yet to be drawn up and a meeting with parents of football players will be scheduled.

School board members generally seemed enthusiastic about the idea of a voluntary program.

Said Board member Dolores Didio: “Anything we can do to give a person the opportunity to say no, we should do so.” She also cautioned other board members about the need for better drug education programs starting in the elementary schools.

A proposal for mandatory drug testing at Newbury Park, submitted by team physician Dr. Melvin Hayashi, was tabled on the advice of the district’s legal counsel.

“Whether the program is mandatory or voluntary is not really a choice before us right now,” district superintendent Thomas Boysen said.

Hawkins High in Hawkins, Tex., is the only high school in the nation with a mandatory drug testing. That program was instituted last month for all Hawkins students involved in extracurricular activities.

Edison High in Huntington Beach was the first high school in Southern California to adopt a drug testing program. It started with about 90% of the Edison football team volunteering to undergo urinalysis. As the year progressed, athletes from other sports teams also registered for testing. This fall, students in other extracurricular activities, such as band and drill team, will also be tested.

Westlake’s program will be only for football players initially, but may spread to other sports and activities in the future.

The idea of limiting the testing to football players did not seem to concern the board.

“These young people are leaders,” said board member Kate Cox. “If they set a good example for a way to beat the drug problem, we should support them.”

Banning, Colton, Fontana, St. Bernard and high schools from the San Diego Unified School District have followed Edison’s lead and have started voluntary drug testing this fall.

At Edison, students are required to pay a laboratory fee of $17 for the urinalysis.

Westlake’s new program is sponsored by Los Robles Hospital in Thousand Oaks, which has agreed to pick up the cost for the tests and lab fees. Sakai said the tests that will be given to Westlake football players normally costs about $25 and is 99% accurate.