During this 2014-2015 academic school year the newly approved random drug testing policy will be implemented. After almost 3 years of planning and reviewing policies that other schools have, the Geary County USD 475 Board of Education finally approved a policy that would permit the random drug testing of students involved in KSHSAA sponsored activities like sports and clubs at Junction City High School. These tests will be randomized and primarily done through a third party in order to remain unbiased. Junction City High School’s Head Principal, Melissa Sharp, said that the way the testing will work is that the school will submit the rosters of every student involved in a sport, club, or other extracurricular activities to the third party vendor so that no teachers or “admin [will have] a role in selecting students”. Once a month the vendor will send which names were randomly selected back to the school and then come to collect from those students. The samples will then go back with the vendor so they can analyze them. The test results are then sent back to the school and parents will be notified that their student was tested and if the results came back positive or negative for any illegal substances. Even if a student tests positive there will not be criminal charges pressed on that individual and there will be “no punitive academic punishment”. Depending on the activity that the student is involved in, they can face game suspension (but still participate in practice) or get alternative assignments for clubs and extracurricular activities like band. The results do not go in the student’s disciplinary file and the letter home will suggest counseling for that individual. The rise in referrals for prescription drug use around 2 years ago was the catalyst for the formation of this new drug testing policy in effect today. Mrs. Sharp claimed this spike in drug use “caused [the school board] to examine [their] practices” when it came to how they dealt with students caught using or in the possession of these drugs. Social media was also a big player in the formation of the drug policy. Due to students freely posting their drug use on the internet it allowed administrators to examine the scope of the problem and ask themselves “What are we going to do about this?” So a committee was born and after over 2 years of research the policy has finally been added to Junction City High School’s curriculum, “If it can save 1 teenagers life, or keep them out of a party, then it’s doing its job.” Said Melissa Sharpe, Head JCHS Principal.