Parents in a Kansas town are angry after large patches of hair were taken from their children during random drug testing at schools, KWCH reported.
Hair follicle drug testing is conducted monthly at the middle and high schools in Phillipsburg, USD 325 Superintendent Mike Gower told the Kansas City Star. Each month, two students at the middle school are tested, and so are six students at the high school.
Gower said the company normally takes between 100 to 120 strands of hair from three places on the scalp, an amount that compares to the diameter of a pencil, KWCH reported. But this time the company took larger amounts. One woman posted a photo of her daughter's scalp with a patch of hair missing that was the size of a quarter, the television station reported.
"We have parents upset that too much hair was taken," Gower told the Star.
Gower said he apologized to parents, adding that the company’s error was “on me.”
"I'm not going to throw the company under the bus or the board or anybody else," Gower told KWCH. "I'm the superintendent, what happens here is on me. I apologize to those kids and those parents. We're taking steps to make sure it doesn't happen again."
Gower said he is looking for a new drug-testing company to recommend to the district's school board, the Star reported.
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