$5.8 Million in New Grants Available For School-Based Drug Prevention

The United States Department of Education (ED), and the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) have announced the competition of an estimated $5,800,000 in new grants for school-based student drug-testing programs. An estimated 38 grants will be awarded in the summer of 2008 for qualified recipients.

The new grants will go to local education agencies and other public and private entities to develop and implement or expand school-based mandatory random or voluntary student drug-testing programs for students enrolled in grades 6 through 12. The drug-testing grants can only go toward the testing of students who participate in athletics programs; students engaged in competitive, extracurricular, school-sponsored activities; or for students who volunteer to enter the program with their parent’s or guardians’ written consent.

To obtain further information on random student drug testing, and the regional summits, please visit: www.randomstudentdrugtesting.com. To learn about the U.S. Department of Education grants for random student drug-testing programs, please visit: www.ed.gov/programs/drugtesting.

The deadline to submit a grant application is Friday, March 21, 2008.