Mater Dei Parents Back Drug Testing

SANTA ANA — Parents surveyed Friday said they approve of Mater Dei High School’s decision to test its students for drugs beginning in the fall semester.

Under a program announced Thursday, students at the Catholic school will submit to random, mandatory testing in a campaign to teach them about the dangers of drugs and alcohol.

Penalties for those who fail the test will range from counseling on the first strike to expulsion on the third, school officials said.

Isabel Aguilar of Santa Ana, whose son is a senior and whose daughter is a sophomore at Mater Dei, said the drug testing “is fine by me.”

“I think they should do it in all private and public schools. Parents don’t know what their children do while they’re at school,” said Aguilar.

“I believe that you’re doing a favor to the parent and child by doing the tests,” she said. “Thank God that my children haven’t had any problems with drugs. But if they did, I’d want to know about it sooner than later.”

Mater Dei, with an enrollment of 2,110, is thought to be the largest high school in Orange County to adopt mandatory drug testing. To carry out the tests, Mater Dei plans to take samples of students’ hair or have them wear sweat patches.

Similar programs exist in private schools nationwide and in all schools administered by the San Bernardino Diocese.

Eight Mater Dei parents contacted by The Times in a random survey said they support the drug tests. Several said parents could choose not to enroll their children in the private school if they believe random drug tests would violate their civil rights.

Kim-Huong Tran of Fountain Valley, mother of a sophomore, said she generally supports the new school policy, although she is concerned about its costs.

“We cannot deny that drugs are everywhere, and anything that helps control this problem is good,” she said, adding that “kids have so many ways of concealing drug use that testing is probably the only way.”

With school scheduled to start next week, it’s not yet clear what students think. But Danny Sicking, a sophomore who lives in Fountain Valley, said he supports the random testing.

“A lot of [students] at school are opposed to it, and I know a lot of [Mater Dei] students who do drugs, mostly marijuana and alcohol,” Sicking said. “I think it’s a fine idea, and my parents support the drug tests too.”

The program was announced to students near the end of the last school year. Sicking said he did not know of any students who decided not to return to Mater Dei as a result of the new policy.

Under its drug and alcohol awareness program, the school also offers parent workshops on drug abuse and teaches students about drugs in science and religion classes.