ALIQUIPPA, Pa. — “Participation is a privilege.” That’s the message being shared by the Aliquippa School District about what it calls its new drug testing policy for those participating in sports or school activities.
“We’ve done a lot of winning over the years,” said Christopher Zuccaro, a 1993 Aliquippa alum. “We always have great athletes, and they perform on the field.”
Before running onto the field, student athletes may have to pass a drug test. That’s according to information shared recently at Aliquippa’s recent Curriculum Night.
The policy applies to seventh-12th-grade students enrolled in sports or activities. It says students must consent to pre-season testing before being allowed to participate.
“Underage smoking, drinking, everything like that — that is definitely very popular in this area,” said Nazheria Johnson-Jeter, whose friends attend Aliquippa High School.
“I’m kind of 50-50 on the whole thing, I guess,” said Douglas Lowe of Hopewell. “On one hand, I think it’s a good thing to control drug use in children and get involved with that. But on the other hand, I think maybe our education system shouldn’t have the responsibility.”
The policy says students will remain in a random testing pool all year and may also be tested based on reasonable suspicion. If they refuse to test, they won’t be allowed to play. Some people wonder if those penalties will be enforced.
“…Especially if they’re really a good football player — they’re not just going to get them off the team because their drug test came back positive. Not in Aliquippa,” said Johnson-Jeter.
Community members Channel 11 spoke with said they would support more of a league-wide effort if drug testing was required for all WPIAL teams in all classes.
“If it’s going to be done here, it should be done in other places as well,” Zuccaro said.
“That would make more sense to me; if it were more widespread, versus just one specific district,” Lowe said.
The status of this new policy is unclear. We asked the superintendent for clarification on when it would take effect and exactly how it works. He told us more information is forthcoming and declined further comment.
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