Students with parking passes at Vicksburg Warren School District would be subject to random drug testing if the Board of Trustees accepts a drug-testing policy proposed at Thursday’s meeting.

The current policy allows the district to request drug tests from any student involved in any extracurricular activities. The new policy cites potential problems with allowing students, who might have drugs in their systems, to park on campus.

The proposal, offered by the Swinford administration, was up for discussion only and will be voted on at the Board of Trustees’ October meeting.

District 3 Trustee Jim Stirgus Jr. questioned the cost of the testing.

“How many students and at what cost are we going to test?” Stirgus asked. “We’re adding another fee, and taxes are going up.”

Superintendent Dr. Elizabeth Swinford said the policy would not be groundbreaking.

“We’re not pioneers on this,” she said. “Biloxi, Pearl and Ocean Springs all have similar policies.”

The policy was based on research published by the Juvenile Justice Information Exchange, a publication that covers juvenile crime issues across the nation and the Southeast particularly.

Swinford said the proposed policy would be an addition to the district’s current policy, which allows drug testing for students who appear intoxicated. She also said the administrators would set a number at the beginning of each semester, with students chosen randomly from different pools across the district.

Board Attorney Briggs Hopson III emphasized that the policy would put the selection of the students to be tested in the hands of the clinic performing the tests. He said that would protect the district legally.