Student Drug Testing

POLICY JFCI

BOONVILLE R-I SCHOOL DISTRICT

STUDENT DRUG TESTING

The Board recognizes the importance of protecting the health and safety of students from the use of illegal drugs, synthetic drugs, prescription drugs without a valid prescription, and alcohol. The purpose of this policy is to help prevent substance abuse among students, to encourage treatment for students with substance abuse problems and to ensure that students have the opportunity to attend school and participate in activities in a fair, safe and healthy environment.

The superintendent or designee is directed to adopt procedures to carry out the intent of this policy and may contact the district's attorney for assistance in applying this policy. The district will use a laboratory certified by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Random Drug Testing

Participation in extracurricular activities is a privilege and carries with it the responsibility to adhere to high standards of conduct, including refraining from the use of illegal drugs, synthetic drugs, prescription drugs without a valid prescription, and alcohol. To assist students in making healthy and safe choices, the district will conduct random drug testing of students in grades 7-12 as a condition of participation in covered activities. Covered activities include all extra-curricular activities, co-curricular activities, and any student who chooses to drive to school and park in a district parking area. District employees shall not have the authority to waive the testing of any student selected using the random selection process.

Certain extra-curricular activities have an academic component during the school day, as well as an extra-curricular component outside of school hours. This policy applies only to the participation opportunities afforded students during the extra-curricular component of the activity. Therefore, if a student violates this policy, the consequences described below will apply only to the extra-curricular component of the activity. The student's grade will not be lowered because of the student's suspension from participation in extra-curricular activities. The student may be expected to complete alternative assignments during the suspension in order to maintain his or her grade.

Consequences

Offenses shall be cumulative from grades 7-12.

A positive test through this random testing program will not result in suspension from school or academic sanctions. The district will not report results to law enforcement.

Students who test positive through this random testing program will be excluded from participation in covered extracurricular activities as follows:

First Offense - Exclusion from all covered activities for a minimum of 30 calendar days. The student shall incur a mandatory retest, as described below.

A student under exclusion may attend and participate in practice sessions and sit with fellow participants during activities/contests; however, the student is not permitted to directly participate in any activities/contests, or to dress in uniform.

Reduction of Exclusion - This exclusion can be reduced to 15 calendar days if the parent/guardian obtains, at the parent/guardian's expense, a substance abuse evaluation by a recognized substance abuse program or professional, along with written documentation of enrollment and regular attendance in an educational/counseling program. A mandatory retest will be required.

Mandatory Retest - Any Participant who tests positive will be required to provide a negative drug test at the Participant's cost before regaining eligibility and will be subject to periodic follow-up tests at District cost for 365 days after return to activities. Failure to provide a negative drug test, within five school days, at the end of the initial suspension will be considered a Second Offense. All tests will be conducted by the District approved Testing Company.

Second Offense - Exclusion from all covered activities for a minimum of 180 calendar days and must pass a mandatory retest administered by the district prior to participating in covered activities again.

Reduction of Exclusion - This exclusion can be reduced to 90 calendar days if the parent/guardian obtains, at the parent/guardian's expense, a substance abuse evaluation by a recognized substance abuse program or professional, along with written documentation of enrollment and regular attendance in an educational/counseling program. A mandatory retest will be required.

Mandatory Retest - Any Participant who tests positive will be required to provide a negative drug test at the Participant's cost before regaining eligibility and will be subject to periodic follow-up tests at District cost for 365 days after return to activities. Failure to provide a negative drug test, within five school days, at the end of the initial suspension will be considered a Third Offense. All tests will be conducted by the District approved Testing Company.

Third Offense - Excluded from all covered activities for the rest of the student's enrollment in the district.

Suspicion-Based Drug Testing

Suspicion-based drug testing, unlike random drug testing, may only be used when there is reasonable suspicion that the student is under the influence of or has recently consumed alcohol or any drug prohibited by district policy. Students testing positive will be disciplined in accordance with the district's discipline policy and may also be excluded from extracurricular activities as determined by the district. A student who refuses to submit to testing may still be disciplined under the district's discipline code for being under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

PROCEDURE JFCI-AP

BOONVILLE R-I SCHOOL DISTRICT

STUDENT DRUG TESTING

I. Random Drug Testing

Notice and Consent

Drug testing information will be made available on the school district website or by calling the principal's office. The parent or legal guardian and the student participant will be required to agree to and sign a written consent for testing prior to the student's participation in a covered activity. Covered activities include all extra-curricular activities, co-curricular activities, and any student who chooses to drive to school and park in a district parking area. This consent form will also bind the student and parent to compliance with the terms of this policy. The consent form will remain in effect for the duration of the student's enrollment within the Boonville R-I School District, unless revoked in writing by the parent or legal guardian. The refusal to consent to the application of any provision in this policy will result in the automatic exclusion of a student from all covered activities until consent is provided.

Random Selection Process

Each student who has signed a consent form will be assigned to the random pool while their activity is in season. When the activity the student is involved in ends, the student will be removed from the random pool.

Random drug testing may occur at any time during the school day. The schedule and number of tests administered shall be at the discretion of the School Board and administration.

The Designated School Official will compile a list of all eligible students for drug screening at each testing time (the random pool). The drug screening company will randomly select and present to the Designated School Official the list of students selected for testing. Participants will be called for testing in the order listed until all have been identified as available for testing.

District employees shall not have the authority to waive the testing of any student selected using the random selection process.

Testing Process

The testing method to be administered will be urinalysis. Testing will be conducted by a certified drug screening company contracted by the school district. The drug test shall screen for illegal drugs, synthetic drugs, prescription drugs without a valid prescription, and alcohol.

Sample Collection

Urine samples will be collected using a method intended to minimize the intrusiveness of the procedure. The testing entity will operate the collection process. Appropriate steps will be taken to respect the privacy of students while, at the same time, preventing the falsification of testing. The student will void urine in private within a closed-door stall. Before the student enters the bathroom, the collection technician will have secured the bathroom by taking steps such as removing trash cans, placing dye in the toilet bowl water, taping-off water supplies and the like.

Once the student has completed the void, the collection technician will check the specimen for sufficient amount, appropriate temperature, no foreign color and no foreign odor. If at any time the collection technician suspects the sample is being tampered with, the collection technician may end the collection process and notify the Designated School Official, who will determine whether a new sample should be obtained or if the student should be considered to have refused to provide a specimen.

If a student does not provide a urine specimen in 3 hours, the student will have up to 5 days to have a “shy bladder examination” to determine if there is a valid medical reason for not voiding in the 3-hour time frame. If the student does not have the exam (done at the family's expense), or if there is not a valid reason, the test would be deemed positive.

Verification of Sample

The Screening Test will be conducted on the specimen by the Testing Company. Any non-negative specimen will be further tested by a gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) test.

If the GC/MS is non-negative, the results will be forwarded to the Designated School Official (DSO). The DSO will contact the student's parent/guardian and ask for a meeting. At the meeting, the DSO will inform the parent/guardian of the non-negative result and ask for permission to forward the results to a medical review officer (MRO). If permission is granted, the DSO will obtain the parent/guardian's name and contact phone number and the student's name and identification code and forward that information to the contracted screening company, who will then forward the information to the MRO. If permission is not granted, or the parent/guardian will not meet with the DSO, the lab results will be accepted as the final results.

As used above, the term “non-negative result” refers to the detection of one or more tested drugs in the initial screening test, which requires additional testing by the laboratory and confirmation by the MRO. The term “positive result” refers to a non-negative test result which the laboratory has confirmed as a result of additional testing and which, thereafter, is confirmed by the MRO.

Disclosure of Other Medications/Final Determination

When the MRO receives the above information, the MRO will contact the parent/guardian, verify the student's identification and then discuss medications the student is taking. If any of the medications being taken by the student could explain the non-negative result, the MRO will verify with the pharmacy filling the prescription or the prescribing physician (in some cases, both) that there is a legitimate prescription in the student's name. Once all pertinent information has been obtained, the MRO will make a final determination of the test results. Those results will be forwarded to the contracted screening company who will then forward them to the DSO.

Consequences

The DSO will notify the student and their parent/guardian of the final determination of the MRO. Upon a positive result, the appropriate extracurricular sponsor and other persons the DSO determines need to know the information to implement district policies or procedures will be notified. All files pertaining to drug testing will be kept confidential and separate from the student's other education records, and only school personnel with a need to know the information will have access to the information.

Offenses shall be cumulative from grades 7-12.

If a student who has initially consented to participate in random drug testing is selected and refuses to test, he or she will immediately be excluded from participating in extra-curricular activities for 365 calendar days.

A positive test through this random testing program will not result in suspension from school or academic sanctions. The district will not report results to law enforcement.

Students who test positive through this random testing program will be excluded from participation in covered extra-curricular activities as follows:

First Offense - Exclusion from all covered activities for a minimum of 30 calendar days. The student shall incur a mandatory retest, as described below.

A student under exclusion may attend and participate in practice sessions and sit with fellow participants during activities/contests; however, the student is not permitted to directly participate in any activities/contests, or to dress in uniform.

Reduction of Exclusion - This exclusion can be reduced to 15 calendar days if the parent/guardian obtains, at the parent/guardian's expense, a substance abuse evaluation by a recognized substance abuse program or professional, along with written documentation of enrollment and regular attendance in an educational/counseling program. A mandatory retest will be required.

Mandatory Retest - Any Participant who tests positive will be required to provide a negative drug test at the Participant's cost before regaining eligibility and will be subject to periodic follow-up tests at District cost for 365 days after return to activities. Failure to provide a negative drug test, within five school days, at the end of the initial suspension will be considered a Second Offense. All tests will be conducted by the District approved Testing Company.

Second Offense - Exclusion from all covered activities for a minimum of 180 calendar days and must pass a mandatory retest administered by the district prior to participating in covered activities again.

Reduction of Exclusion - This exclusion can be reduced to 90 calendar days if the parent/guardian obtains, at the parent/guardian's expense, a substance abuse evaluation by a recognized substance abuse program or professional, along with written documentation of enrollment and regular attendance in an educational/counseling program. A mandatory retest will be required.

Mandatory Retest - Any Participant who tests positive will be required to provide a negative drug test at the Participant's cost before regaining eligibility and will be subject to periodic follow-up tests at District cost for 365 days after return to activities. Failure to provide a negative drug test, within five school days, at the end of the initial suspension will be considered a Third Offense. All tests will be conducted by the District approved Testing Company.

Third Offense - Excluded from all covered activities for the rest of the student's enrollment in the district.

II. Suspicion-Based Drug Testing

A student may be required to submit to a drug test when there is reasonable suspicion that the student is under the influence of or has recently consumed alcohol or any drug prohibited by district policy. Staff members will report such suspicions to the building administrator or designee as soon as possible. The building administrator or designee will determine if reasonable suspicion exists. The district's attorney may be consulted as necessary.

Consequences

Students who test positive under this section will be disciplined in accordance with the district's discipline code and may also be temporarily or permanently excluded from all district extracurricular activities in accordance with other district policies or practices.

Refusal to Submit or Falsifying Results

A student refuses to submit for drug testing when he or she fails to provide adequate urine for testing when notified of the need to do so or engages in conduct that clearly obstructs the testing process. A student who refuses to submit to testing or takes deliberate action to falsify results may still be disciplined under the district's discipline code for being under the influence of alcohol or drugs. A student who takes deliberate action to falsify results may also receive additional disciplinary consequences.

FORM JFCI-AF

BOONVILLE R-I SCHOOL DISTRICT

STUDENT DRUG TESTING

(Consent Form)

I, ___________________________ , [student's name] have received, read, understand and agree to abide by the Boonville R-I School District's drug testing policy and procedures. As a condition of participating in activities in the Boonville R-I School District, I agree to provide urine specimens when directed and authorize the district to have the specimens tested for drugs and alcohol. I also authorize the release of information concerning the results of such a test to the Boonville R-I School District and to my parents/guardians.

_________________________________________________
Student Signature                                     Date

I, _____________________________ , [name of parent/guardian] have received, read, understand and agree to abide by the Boonville R-I School District's drug testing policy and procedures. As a condition of my student's participation in activities in the Boonville R-I School District, I authorize the district to collect urine specimens from my student and authorize the district to have the specimens tested for illegal drugs, synthetic drugs, prescription drugs without a valid prescription, and alcohol. I also authorize the release of information concerning the results of such a test to the Boonville R-I School District.

________________________________________________
Signature of Parent/Guardian                 Date

This consent form will remain in effect for the duration of the student's enrollment within the Boonville R-I School District, unless revoked in writing by the parent/guardian.