JACKSON TWP — Positive drug test results for students at Seneca Valley are down from last year's numbers, administrators reported at Monday's school board meeting.

The positive test rate was 0.41 percent in the 2017-18 school year, down from 0.81 percent the previous school year.

“This year it went down even further,” said Matt McKinley, assistant superintendent of secondary instruction. “We're doing just as many tests each year.”

The national average rate is 2 percent, said Matthew Franz, director of operations for SPORT SAFE Testing Service, which administers the Seneca Valley testing program.

The program's success comes from the intervention steps along the way for those who test positive, McKinley said.

After a student tests positive, the building principal notifies and meets with parents. The student must submit follow-up samples each week for five weeks. The student also is suspended for 14 days from the sport, activity or parking privilege and must attend a mandatory drug and alcohol education class.

For a second offense in six years, the student is suspended from sports, activities and driving privileges for one year. A third offense results in permanent suspension from activities.

Students are not penalized academically for testing positive, nor are the results of drug tests disclosed to police.

Of the 4,355 tests given last school year, 27 were positive. Of the 4,355 overall tests, 15 tests were completed due to “reasonable suspicions” and 10 of those were positive.

There were 87 follow-up tests and three of those were positive. That puts Seneca Valley's follow-up rate at 3.4 percent, McKinley said, well below the national average of about 20 percent.

Seneca Valley was one of the first school districts in the state to enact random drug testing for student athletes and students participating in activities. It began its program 16 years ago.

Students in grades seven to 12 who want to participate in sports, extracurricular activities or drive to school are required to take a drug test before their sport or activity starts or before they get a parking pass.

Then the students are entered into a random testing program that calls out students throughout the school year. There were 1,768 random tests completed in 2017-18 that resulted in 12 positive tests.