A total of $8.6 million in federal grants for student drug testing has been awarded by the U.S. Department of Education and the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).

"I believe that a comprehensive drug program that includes random drug testing in our schools can be an effective prevention measure for steering students away from substance abuse and focus on learning and reaching their full academic potential," said U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings in announcing the grants.

"As we continue to work as teammates at the federal, state and local level to create school environments that are more conducive to learning, I will continue to stress the importance of using these types of interventions as deterrents to drug use by our nation's youth."

Of the grants awarded for random student drug testing, $1.7 million went to new grantees (11 school districts) and $6.9 million in continuing funding was given to 55 existing programs at 310 schools. ONDCP estimates that about 400 public schools have implemented random testing using federal grant money.

Grants averaged $125,000. A full list of grantees is posted online.