OLUSTEE-ELDORADO SCHOOL BOARD
STUDENT DRUG TESTING POLICY
Although the Board of Education, administration, and staff desire that every student in the Olustee Public School District refrain from using or possessing Illegal drugs, district officials realize that their power to restrict the possession or use of illegal and performance-enhancing drugs is limited. Therefore, this policy governs performance-enhancing and illegal drug use by students participating in certain extra-curricular activities. The sanctions imposed for violations of this policy will be limitations solely upon the opportunity of any student determined to be in violation of this policy to a student's privilege to participate in extra-curricular activities and student drivers. Provided, further, that any student who does not participate in any of these activities may voluntarily consent to being tested on a random and a reasonable suspicion bases, with permission of a parent, legal custodian, or a legal guardian. This would allow parent and guardians to be notified as to a potential problem, and enable them to seek help. No suspensions from school or academic sanctions will be imposed for violations of this policy. This policy supplements and complements all other policies, rules, and regulations of the Olustee-Eldorado School District regarding possession or use of illegal drugs.
Participation in school-sponsored interscholastic extra-curricular activities or student drivers at the Olustee-Eldorado School District is a privilege. Students who participate in these activities should be respected by the student body as well as the school district and the community they represent. Accordingly, students in extra-curricular activities carry a responsibility to themselves, their fellow students, their parents and their school to set the highest possible examples of conduct, sportsmanship, and training, which includes avoiding the sue or possession of illegal drugs.
The purposes of this policy are five-fold:
1. To educate students of the serious physical, mental and emotional harm caused by illegal drug use.
2. To alert students with possible substance-abuse problems to the potential harms that drug use poses for their physical, mental, and emotional well-being and offer them the privilege of competition as an incentive to stop using such substances.
3. Ensure that students adhere to a training program that bars the intake of illegal and performance-enhancing drugs.
4. To prevent injury, illness, and harm for students that may arise as a result from an illegal and performance-enhancing drug use.
5. To offer students practices, competition and school activities free of the effects of illegal and performance-enhancing drug use.
Permission to drive a motor vehicle onto and park on District premises is a privilege granted to students. This privilege is conditioned upon the student driver complying with several rules, such as providing evidence the student has a license to operate a motor vehicle, having verification of insurance, and ensuring whatever vehicle the student drives onto school property, regardless of who owns the vehicle or rides in the vehicle, is clean of all items not allowed on District property under school discipline codes and handbooks. The privilege of driving a vehicle onto District property may be taken away for failure to comply with these requirements and may also be taken away for failure to operate a vehicle in a safe manner on District premises. The District has a vital interest in seeing that students, staff, patrons, and visitors on District premises are not subjected to harm due to the operations in vehicles. That interest in safety is adversely affected if drivers on District premises have performance-enhancing or illegal drugs or alcohol or other mood-altering chemicals in their system. In summation, the purpose of the policy's application to student who rives vehicles onto District premises to protect the health and well-being of students, staff, patrons, and visitors who drive onto District premises or walk across District parking lots and other areas in which motor vehicles are permitted.
Illegal and performance-enhancing drug use of any kind is incompatible with the physical, mental, and emotional demands placed upon participants and extra-curricular activities and upon the positive image these students project to other students and to the community on behalf of the Olustee-Eldorado Public Schools. For the safety, health and wellbeing of students in extra-curricular activities, the Olustee-Eldorado Public School District has adopted this policy for use by student drivers and all participants and interscholastic extra-curricular activities in grades 7-12.
The administration may adopt regulations to implement this policy.
I. Definitions
“Activity Student” means a member of any junior high school or high school Olustee-Eldorado Public School District sponsored extra-curricular organization including 4-H, FFA, Gifted and Talented activities, Cheerleading, Speech/Drama activities, and Athletics.
“Student Driver” means any student who operates a motor vehicle in District premises.
“Drug Use Test” means a scientifically substantiated method to test for the presence of illegal or performance-enhancing drugs or he metabolites thereof in a person's urine.
“Random Selection Basis” means a mechanism for selecting activity students for drug testing that:
A. Results in an equal probability that any activity student from a group of activity students subject to the selection mechanism will be selected, and
B. Does not give the school district discretion to waive the selection of any activity student selected under the mechanism.
“Illegal Drugs” means any substance which an individual may not sell, possess, use, distribute or purchase under either federal or Oklahoma law. “Illegal drugs” includes, but is not limited to, all scheduled drugs as defined by the Oklahoma Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substance Act, all prescription drugs obtained without authorization, and all prescribed and over-the-counter drugs being used for an abusive purpose. “Illegal drugs” shall also include alcohol.
“Participating Student” means any student participating in the Olustee-Eldorado Public Schools drug testing program which is the subject of the Olustee-Eldorado Public School Drug “Testing Policy.
“Performance-enhancing Drugs” include anabolic steroids and any other natural or synthetic substance used to increase muscle mass, strength, endurance, speed or other athletic ability. The term “performance-enhancing drugs” does not include dietary or nutritional supplements such as vitamins, minerals and proteins which can be lawfully purchased in over-the-counter transactions.
“Positive” when referring to a rug use test administered under this policy means a toxicological test result which is considered to demonstrate the presence of an illegal or a performance-enhancing drug or the metabolites thereof using the standards customarily established by the testing laboratory administering the drug use test.
“Reasonable Suspicion” means a suspicion of illegal or performance-enhancing drug use based on specific observations made by coaches/administrators/sponsors/teacher of subtle changes in the appearance, speech, or behavior of the student; the reasonable inferences that are drawn from those observations; and/or information of illegal or performance-enhancing drug use by a student supplied to school officials by credible sources. In order for a student to be referred for testing on “reasonable suspicion,” his or her activity sponsor, or one of his/her teachers) and at least two building administrators must agree to the reasonable suspicion. The name and identity of students referred on “reasonable suspicion” will be kept confidential. Although “reasonable suspicion” would include overtly recognizable signs of present illegal drug use, such as a perceptible odor of rugs, erratic behavior reasonably attributable to illegal drug or alcohol use, or perceptible odor of alcohol, instances such as these would subject the student to ordinary disciplinary action apart from this policy.
II. Procedures
Each student shall be provided with a copy of the “Student Drug Testing Consent Form” which shall be read, signed and dated by the student, parent or custodial guardian and coach/sponsor before such student shall be eligible to practice or participate in any extra-curricular activities/drive on District premises. The consent requires the student to provide a urine sample: 9a) as part of the activity student's annual physical or for eligibility for participation; (b) when the student is selected by the random selection basis to provide a urine sample; (c) at any time when there is reasonable suspicion to test for illegal or performance enhancing drugs. No student shall be allowed to drive on District premises/practice or participate in any extracurricular activities involving interscholastic competition unless the student has returned the properly signed “Student Drug Testing Consent Form”.
Prior to the commencement of drug testing each year, an orientation session will be held to educate participating students of the sample collection process, privacy arrangements, drug testing procedures and other areas which may help to reassure the student and help avoid embarrassment or uncomfortable feelings about the drug testing process.
Each participating student shall receive a copy of the Student Drug Testing Policy. The administration will be responsible for explaining the policy to all prospective students, and for preparing a educational presentation to acquaint the students with the harmful consequences of drug and alcohol use and abuse.
Drug use testing for students will also be chosen on a random selection basis monthly from a list of all participating students. The Olustee-Eldorado Public School District will determine a monthly number of student names to be drawn at random to provide a urine sample for drug use testing for illegal drugs or performance-enhancing drugs.
In addition to the drug tests required above, any participating student may be required at any time to submit to a test for illegal or performance-enhancing drugs, or the metabolites thereof when an administrator, coach, or sponsor has reasonable suspicion of illegal or performance-enhancing drug use by that particular student. Any drug use test will be administered by or at the direction of a professional laboratory chosen by the Olustee-Eldorado Public School District. The professional laboratory shall be required to use scientifically validated toxicological testing methods, have detailed written specifications to assure chain of custody of the specimens, and proper laboratory control and scientific testing.
All aspects of the drug use testing program, including the taking of specimens, will be conducted so as to safeguard the personal and privacy rights of the student to the maximum degree possible. The test specimen shall be obtained in a manner designed to minimize intrusiveness of the procedure. In particular, the specimen must be collected in a restroom or other private facility behind a closed stall. The principal/athletic director shall designate a coach, sponsor, or school employee of the same sex as the student to accompany the student to a restroom or other private facility behind a closed stall. The monitor shall not observe the student while the specimen is being produced, but the monitor shall be present outside the stall to listen for the normal sounds of urination in order to guard against tampered specimens and to insure an accurate chain of custody. The monitor shall verify the normal warmth and appearance of the specimen. If at any time during the testing procedure the monitor has reason to believe or suspect that a student is tampering with the specimen, the monitor may stop the procedure and inform the principal/athletic director, who will then determine if a new sample should be obtained. The monitor shall give each student a form on which the student may list any medications legally prescribed for the student he or she has taken in the preceding 30 days. The parent or legal guardian shall be able to confirm the medication list submitted by their child during the 24 hours following any drug test. The medication list shall be submitted to the lab in a sealed confidential envelope and shall not be viewed by district employees.
An initial positive test result will be subject to confirmation by a second and different test of the same specimen. The second test will use the gas chromatography/mass spectrometry technique. A specimen shall not be reported positive unless the second test utilizing this procedure is positive for the presence of an illegal drug or the metabolites thereof. The unused portion of a specimen that tested positive shall be preserved by the laboratory for a period of six months or the end of the school year, whichever is shorted. Student records will be retained until the end of the school year.
III. Confidentiality
The laboratory will notify the principal or superintendent of any positive test. To keep the positive test results confidential, the principal will only notify the student, the head coach/sponsor, and the parent or custodial guardian of the student of the results. The principal will schedule a conference with the student and parent or guardian and explain the student's opportunity to submit additional information to the principal/athletic director or to the lab. The Olustee-Eldorado Public School District will rely on the opinion of the laboratory which performed the test in determining whether the positive test result was produced by something other than consumption of an illegal or performance-enhancing drug.
Test results will be kept in files separate from the student's other educational records, shall be disclosed only to those school personnel who have a need to know, and will not be turned over to any law enforcement authorities. These records will be destroyed upon graduation or permanent withdrawal from Olustee-Eldorado Schools.
IV. Appeal
An Activity Student who has been determined by the principal to be in violation of this policy shall have the right to appeal the decision to the superintendent or his/her designee(s). Such request for a review must be submitted to the superintendent in writing within five calendar days of notice of the positive test. A student requesting a review will remain eligible to participate in any extracurricular activities until the review is completed. The superintendent or his/her designee(s) shall then determine whether the original finding was justified. No further review of the superintendent's decision will be provided and his /her decision shall be conclusive in all respects. Any necessary interpretation or application of this policy shall be in the sole and exclusive judgment and discretion of the superintendent which shall be final and non-appealable.
V. Consequences
Any Activity Student who tests positive in a drug test under this policy shall be subjected to the following restrictions:
A. For the First Offense:
Students will be suspended from participation in all activities for ten (10) school days. The parent/guardian will be contacted and a private conference will be scheduled to present the test results to the parent/guardian. A meeting will be then set up with the student, parent/guardian, and principal concerning the positive drug test. The student and parent/guardian must, within five days of the joint meeting, show proof that the student has scheduled or received a drug and/or alcohol assessment and a minim[um of one hour of drug counseling from a qualified treatment program or counseling entity. In order to continue participation, the student must follow through on the scheduled assessment and counseling. Additionally, the student must voluntarily submit to a second drug test to be administered within 15 days, a re-test must be clean or determined at a substantially lower level. After the first offense, the student will automatically be included with the next two groups of random testing.
A student driver will not be allowed to drive on District property for one (1) month and must return a negative test and show proof the student received drug counseling from a qualified treatment program or counseling entity before driving privileges are reinstated.
If parent/guardian and student agree to these provisions, the student will continue to participate in the activity. Should the parent/student not agree to these provisions, the consequences listed in this policy for the second offense will be imposed.
These restrictions and requirements shall begin immediately, consecutive in nature, [unless a review appeal is filed following receipt of a positive test. Provided, however, a student who on his or her own volition informs (self-refers) to the athletic director, principal, or coach/sponsor of usage before being notified to submit to a drug test will be allowed to remain active in all activities covered under this policy. Such a student will, however, be considered to have committed his/her first offense [under the policy, and will be required to re-test as would a student who has tested positive. Students will be allowed to self-refer only once during the time he/she spends in the Olustee-Eldorado School District.
B. For the Second Offense: (same school year)
Suspension from participation in all activities covered under this policy for 88 school days, and successful completion of four hours of substance abuse education/counseling from a qualified drug treatment program or counseling entity. The school district will not be responsible for any costs associated with the second offense counseling or treatment. Parents should consider seeking additional assistance, including the possibility of drug treatment centers. “School officials will help expedite this procedure, if it is determined necessary by student and parent. “The student may not participate in any meetings, practices, scrimmages or competitions during this period. The student will be randomly tested monthly for the remainder of the school year. The time and date will be unknown to the student and determined by the principal/athletic director or designee.
A student driver who tests positive a second time will be prohibited from driving a motor vehicle on any District property until he/she can provide verification that he/she has been drug free for three (3) months. In addition, the student must successfully complete at least 4 hours of substance abuse education/counseling from a qualified drug treatment program or counseling entity. This will be done at the student's expense. The ability for the student to provide three (3) negative rug tests will serve as verification. The third test must come at the end of the penalty.
C. For the Third Offense (same school year)
Complete suspension from participation in all extra-curricular activities including all meeting, practices, performances, and competition for one year. Parents should strongly consider additional assistance from outside sources, including, but not to be limited to, the possibility of drug treatment centers. School district will not be responsible for any costs associated with the third offense counseling or treatment. School officials will cooperate to help expedite this procedure, if it is determined necessary by the student and parents.
If a student driver tests positive for the third time during a school year, the student will be unable to drive on campus for six (6) months, if he/she returns three negative results. The third test must come at the end of the penalty.
VI. Refusal to Submit to Drug Use Test
A participating student who refuses to submit to a drug test authorized under this policy shall not be eligible to participate in any activities/drive on campus covered under this policy, including all meetings, practices, performances and competitions for the remainder of the school year. Additionally, such student shall not be considered for any interscholastic activity honors or awards given by the school.