Students involved in an extracurriculars, would be affected by this new policy.

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here.Drug testing students is becoming more commonplace at school districts in Butler County as a way to ensure a drug-free environment in schools and help students before they develop substance-abuse issues.Butler School District could become the fourth school district in the county to have a random drug testing policy if the board approves it at Monday's school board meeting.Butler would join Seneca Valley, Mars and South Butler school districts in randomly drug testing students who participate in athletics and extracurricular activities or drive to school.The program also would prepare students for the work force as many jobs require pre-employment drug screenings, he said.The policy would require secondary students to pass a drug test before participating in athletics or extracurricular activities or before getting a parking permit on campus. Participating students also would be entered into a random drug testing pool that calls out students to be tested throughout the school year.Parents pay $30 for the initial preactivity test, and the school district pays for the random testing done throughout the school year. The procedure is the same at Seneca Valley.Butler students already pay a fee to participate in athletics, so the school district would foot the bill for the drug testing program,Kurt Reiser, athletics and activities directors for the district, said South Butler began the program after concern about drug and opioid abuse in the region and state. It's meant to help students, not punish them, he said.

Read the full story in Sunday's Butler Eagle to understand how the program would work.