Board of Ed to Consider Random Drug Tests for High School Athletes

The Beverly Hills Unified School District Board of Education will consider Tuesday the adoption of a mandatory random drug/alcohol testing policy for the city's high school athletes.

"This policy is designed as a deterrent to drug and alcohol abuse at Beverly Hills High School," board President Brian Goldberg told Patch. "I proposed this policy as a means to address a growing problem at Beverly. While I would support random testing for all students, the U.S. Supreme Court and the California Courts of Appeal allow for testing only for students participating on sports teams."

The tests cost about $55 per athlete and would be paid for by the district. The testing would seek to detect illegal drugs and alcohol, but not performance-enhancing substances.

The board will discuss the agenda item at its regular meeting 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Salter Family Theatre at BHHS. The public is welcome to attend and submit comments on the issue or email comments to bhhsptsa@gmail.com to have them submitted to the meeting's record. To view school board agenda items and proposed policies, click here for the BHUSD website.

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