(This article comes courtesy of MissouriNet.)
A different kind of testing is underway in Missouri public schools this year.
The state has kicked off a School Wastewater Testing Pilot from around a dozen schools.
Mike O’Connell, communications director for the Missouri Department of Public Safety, told Missourinet that the testing is for signs of fentanyl and other drugs.
“To date, about 40 schools have signed up early in December, and the testing has already started, said O’Connell. “I believe the testing has taken place in about a dozen of those schools already. I don’t have any of the results.”
O’Connell told Missourinet that the testing will be done weekly.
“By doing weekly testing, you’ll be able to track trends and then the data are shared with the schools and then the schools can look at what types of programs they want to implement, and some may decide that it’s a bigger problem than they anticipated,” said O’Connell.
O’Connell with the Department of Public Safety said the data will be shared with school districts—but will it also be shared with local law enforcement?
“So, we are the Missouri Department of Public Safety and there’s nothing contractually that would prevent that from being shared,” said O’Connell. “But I believe that that is still being worked out.”
Missouri is investing four million dollars to test school wastewater for drugs, along with another 3 million dollars to expand similar testing in communities statewide.
