Oxford students will have to undergo a breathalyzer test at this year’s prom.
The Oxford Board of Education voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a pilot program for the testing, to be evaluated after the event.
While there is not currently data on alcohol use by Oxford students, a 2009 survey in other Valley towns shows some high school students are drinking alcohol as early as seventh grade.
Oxford Interim Superintendent John Reed first broached the breathalyzer topic at an April 10 school board meeting during which he brought up several ideas to combat substance abuse in schools. Click here to read more.
The policy adopted Tuesday gives school administrators flexibility in deciding which students to test. They can test every student attending the prom, or test by random selection, or test “based upon individualized reasonable suspicion.”
Students who fail or refuse the test will be denied admission and sent home.
The prom is scheduled for May 25 at the Aqua Turf in Plantsville.
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Oxford Schools Breathalyzer Policy
The Greater Valley Substance Abuse Action Council obtained a federal grant for three breathalyzers for Oxford schools to use for the testing. The devices typically cost $300 apiece.
Reed had suggested other ideas at the April 10 meeting, such as forming a community-wide “prevention council” and conducting anonymous surveys of students about drug and alcohol use.
Those suggestions will be revisited at subsequent Board of Education meetings, Reed said Wednesday.
Substance Abuse Survey
The Valley Substance Abuse Action Council already conducts anonymous surveys of students about their drug and alcohol use every two years. But Oxford doesn’t currently take part.
Lorrie McFarland, a prevention coordinator at VSAAC, said she hopes Oxford will be able to take part in its survey of students by the end of this school year, or by next fall.
Students in Ansonia, Derby, Shelton and Seymour were surveyed in September, McFarland said, but the results won’t be available until late summer, after they’re analyzed.
Reed said Wednesday he thinks Oxford will take part, but didn’t want to discuss the subject extensively during Tuesday’s meeting because a number of board members were absent.
“I think there’s a consensus around the collection of data,” he said. “Oxford has been a part of those efforts before and will be again.”
McFarland said the purpose of the report isn’t to sensationalize drug use in schools, but to offer school officials information they can use to deal with any problems.
“What we’re looking to do is actually to see trends and then try to help guide the kinds of prevention services they could be offering,” McFarland said. “We’re not out looking to publicize problems and fault the community. It’s really just to enhance what’s already in place there.”
The survey asks students questions about whether they use alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and prescription drugs. The questionnaire is anonymous.
The last survey, from 2009, showed increases in certain age groups in alcohol and drug use. For example, 31.2 percent of high school freshmen reported alcohol use in the past 30 days, compared to 21.5 percent in 2007. The same survey indicated 8.8 percent of seventh-graders had used alcohol in the past 30 days, up from 4.6 percent in 2007.
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2009 Survey Data Presentationvc12011
McFarland said she expects this year’s results to show that “alcohol again will be the No. 1 most widely used drug of choice for students we survey,” and that it has been since they began the study.
“Marijuana seems to be making a comeback,” she added. Prescription drug abuse is also always a concern, “simply because it’s accessible,” she said.
McFarland also said the data have historically shown that Valley students use alcohol more than others in the state.
“Typically, Valley kids have higher rates of drinking than the rest of the state of Connecticut,” McFarland said.
The rates between Valley students and others in the state are similar with respect to other drugs, she added.
