JFGA STUDENT ACTIVITY MANDATORY DRUG TESTING POLICY UINTA COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT # 1
J - STUDENTS
MISSION STATEMENT:
Uinta County School District #1 recognizes that drug abuse is a significant health problem for students, detrimentally affecting overall health, behavior, learning ability, reflexes, and the total development of each individual student. The Uinta County School District #1 Board of Trustees is determined to help students by developing this policy to provide additional tools for the district to prevent student drug abuse. Drug abuse includes, but is not limited to, the use of illegal drugs, alcohol, and the misuse of legal drugs and medications.
DEFINITIONS:
Drug: Any substance considered illegal by Wyoming Statute unless prescribed by a licensed physician or any legal substance used or abused for mind altering purposes.
Activity Programs: Any Activity that meets the guidelines of the Wyoming High
School Activities Association and Uinta County School District#1 sanctioned activities.
Activity Participant: Any student participating in an activity program in grades 6-12 sponsored by Uinta County School District #1 and sanctioned by the Wyoming High School Activities Association
School Year: From the first day of classes in the fall, unless the activity begins prior to the first day of classes, in which event, from the first day of practice through the last day of classes in the spring.
School Day: Is any day identified on the official school calendar, Monday through Friday, as a contact day for students and staff. School day also includes scheduled practices, Monday through Friday, for an activity that begins before the first day of classes in the fall.
POLICY STATEMENT:
Uinta County School District #1 (“the district”) is conducting a mandatory drug-testing program for Activity Participants. Its purpose is threefold: (1) To provide for the health and safety of Activity Participants in all Activity Programs; (2) To undermine the effects of peer pressure by providing a legitimate reason for Activity Participants to refuse to use illegal drugs; and (3) To provide information to parents/guardians regarding their student’s drug/alcohol use in a non-punitive manner that encourages students who use drugs to participate in an appropriate drug treatment program.
PROCEDURES FOR STUDENTS:
Consent: Each Activity Participant and the Activity Participant’s custodial parent or guardian shall consent in writing to random drug testing pursuant to the district’s student activity mandatory drug testing program. Written consent shall be in the form attached to this policy as FORM A. No Activity Participant shall be allowed to participate in any activity program absent such written consent.
Students not involved in activities may be allowed to voluntarily participate in the testing pool with a consent form signed by the parent.
Activity Participant Selection: At the option of the district, all Activity Participants in Activity Programs may be drug tested at the beginning of the school year. In addition, random testing will be conducted monthly during the school year. Selection for random testing will be by lottery drawing from a “pool” of Activity Participants participating in Activity Programs in the district. The superintendent or superintendent’s designee shall take all reasonable steps to assure the integrity, confidentiality, and random nature of the selection process including, but not necessarily limited to, assuring that the names of all Activity Participants are in the pool, assuring that the person drawing names has no way of knowingly choosing or failing to choose particular Activity Participants for the testing, assuring that the identity of Activity Participants drawn for testing is not known to those involved in the selection process and assuring direct observation of the process by the least intrusive means possible while assuring brevity and privacy.
SAMPLE COLLECTION
Samples will be collected at a mutually convenient time on the same day the Activity Participant is selected for testing. If an Activity Participant is unable to produce a sample at any time, the Activity Participant will stay under supervision until the sample is provided. All Activity Participants providing samples will be given the option of doing so alone in an individual stall with the door closed.
Any Activity Participant who willfully provides a false testing sample or who otherwise tampers with a specimen sample or undertakes any effort to obstruct or impair the accuracy of a substance test will be suspended from participation in activities for a calendar year.
REFUSAL TO SUBMIT TO DRUG USE TEST:
An Activity Participant who refuses to submit to a drug test authorized under the policy or fails or refuses to comply with any other provision of this policy, shall be considered to have provided a non-negative result, and shall thereafter be subject to the same procedures and consequences for a non-negative result set forth herein.
TESTING AGENCY:
The district will choose a qualified agency for the purpose of processing sample results and maintaining privacy with respect to test results and related matters.
PRESCRIPTION MEDICATION
Activity Participants who are taking prescription medication may provide a copy of the prescription or a doctor’s verification, which will be considered in determining whether a “non-negative” test has been satisfactorily explained. That documentation will be forwarded to the testing lab with instructions for the lab to consider the Activity Participant’s use of such medication to assure the accuracy of the result. Activity Participants who refuse to provide verification and test non-negative shall thereafter be subject to the same procedures and consequences for a non-negative result set forth herein.
SCOPE OF TESTS
The drug screen tests for one or more illegal drugs. The superintendent or superintendent’s designee shall decide which illegal substances shall be screened, but in no event shall that determination be made after selection of Activity Participants for testing. Activity Participant samples will not be screened for the presence of any substances other than illegal drugs or performance enhancing drugs or for the existence of any physical condition other than illegal drug use. As a quality control measure, the school reserves the right to send any urine sample that appears unusual in color and/or consistency to a laboratory for testing and confirmation or non-confirmation.
LIMITED ACCESS TO RESULTS
The results will be reported only to the superintendent or superintendent’s designee in the event the superintendent is absent.
PROCEDURES IN THE EVENT OF A NON-NEGATIVE RESULT
Whenever an Activity Participant’s test result indicates the presence of illegal drugs (“non-negative”), the following will occur:
If the sample tests “non-negative”, a custodial parent or legal guardian will be notified. If the sample reads non-negative, a meeting will be scheduled with the superintendent or superintendent’s designee, the Activity Participant, the custodial parent or legal guardian, and the Activity Participant’s principal, and head coach or sponsor. The parent/guardian may request that the sample be sent to an independent drug testing laboratory certified by the Department of Health and Human Services to be tested solely and exclusively at the expense of the parent/guardian.
FIRST NON-NEGATIVE RESULT
For a non-negative result, the Activity Participant will be suspended from activities for a period of twenty (20) school days. During the twenty (20) day suspension, the Activity Participant may be required to practice at the discretion of the head coach or sponsor, but the Activity Participant shall not, under any circumstance, be permitted to compete, dress out for any competition, or travel with the team to any competition or performances. Parents will be encouraged to seek drug and alcohol counseling or other appropriate professional treatment for the Activity Participant.
If this first non-negative test result is in the spring semester, the Activity Participant will not be able to participate in activities during the next school year until either the twenty (20) day suspension is fully served during the spring semester or during the next school year when the Activity Participant participates in an activity. For example, if an Activity Participant completes ten days of suspension at the end of the spring semester for an activity like track and field, the Activity Participant would be required to complete the remaining ten days of the suspension when the Activity Participant participates in another activity like football during the following school year.
After the twenty-day suspension, the Activity Participant will be retested. If the tests results are found to be negative, the Activity Participant will become eligible for competitions, presentations and activities relating to Uinta County School District #1. However, the student must submit to a mandatory drug screening or lab test monthly. The duration of the monthly drug tests shall be determined at the sole discretion of the members of the intervention program but shall not exceed twelve months.
SECOND NON-NEGATIVE RESULT
For the second non-negative result in the same year or any two consecutive calendar years, the Activity Participant will be suspended from activities for a period of forty (40) school days. During the forty (40) day suspension, the Activity Participant may be required to practice at the discretion of the head coach or sponsor, but the Activity Participant shall not, under any circumstance, be permitted to compete, dress out for any competition, or travel with the team to any competitions or performances. Parents will be encouraged to seek drug and alcohol counseling or other appropriate professional treatment for the Activity Participant.
If this second non-negative test result is in the spring semester, the Activity Participant will not be able to participate in activities during the next school year until either the forty (40) day suspension is fully served during the spring semester or during the next school year when the Activity Participant participates in an activity. For example, if an Activity Participant completes twenty (20) days of suspension at the end of the spring semester for an activity like soccer, the Activity Participant would be required to complete the remaining twenty (20) days of the suspension when the Activity Participant participates in another activity like volleyball during the following school year.
After the forty (40) day suspension, the Activity Participant will be retested. If the tests results are found to be negative, the Activity Participant will become eligible for competitions, presentations, and activities relating to Uinta County School District #1. However, the Activity Participant must submit to a mandatory drug screening or lab test monthly. The duration of the monthly drug tests shall be determined at the sole discretion of the members of the intervention program but shall not exceed twelve months.
THIRD NON-NEGATIVE RESULT
For the third non-negative result, the Activity Participant will be suspended from participating in activities for the remainder of the Activity Participant’s enrollment with the school. (This permanent suspension from participating in Activities may be appealed to the board)
NON-PUNITIVE NATURE OF POLICY
No Activity Participant participating in the Student Activity Mandatory Drug Testing Policy (JFGA) shall be penalized academically for testing non-negative for illegal drugs. The results of drug tests pursuant to this policy will not be documented in any Activity Participant’s academic records. Information regarding the results of drug tests will not be disclosed to criminal or juvenile authorities absent legal compulsion by valid and binding subpoena or other legal process, which the district shall not solicit. In the event of service of any such subpoena or legal process, the Activity Participant and the Activity Participant’s custodial parent or legal guardian will be notified as soon as possible by the district.
OTHER DISCIPLINARY MEASURES
By accepting this policy, the district is not precluded from utilizing other disciplinary measures set forth in the Student Discipline Policy and this policy does not preclude the district from taking disciplinary procedure and resulting action when founded upon reasonable belief and suspicion that a student has participated in drug related activities.