5530.01 - RANDOM DRUG TESTING OF STUDENT PARTICIPATING IN INTERSCHOLASTIC SPORTS

Defiance City School District

Bylaws & Policies

5530.01 - RANDOM DRUG TESTING OF STUDENT PARTICIPATING IN INTERSCHOLASTIC SPORTS
OVERVIEW

The procedure for initial and random drug testing of athletes is accomplished in conjunction with an independent drug testing Vendor selected by the Board of Education. Following possible initial team testing, the Vendor is provided by the Athletic Director a list of eligible student athletes and in turn randomly selects up to twenty percent (20%) of these students per team for drug testing at regular intervals. The Vendor will send qualified collectors to the school who will oversee the collection of all specimens as outlined in this document. The Vendor will provide Medical Review Officer (MRO) services for interpretation and verification of results. Results are reported to the Athletic Director by the MRO. Urine specimens are collected as split specimens. If a sample tests positive on-site with the Rapid Test Dip Device or One Step Cotinine Test Device, the split sample will be sent to a certified laboratory for confirmation. If the sample test is a confirmed positive the Defiance Athletic Policy will be followed and there shall be five (5) drug tests of the athlete over the next 365 days, the specific times of which shall be at the discretion of the Defiance City School's Athletic Department.

A STATEMENT OF NEED AND PURPOSE

Recognizing that observed and suspected use of alcohol and illicit drugs by Defiance City School District student athletes is increasing, a program of deterrence will be instituted as a pro-active approach to a truly drug free school. Likewise, through participation in athletics, students using illegal drugs pose a threat to their own health and safety, as well as to that of other students. The purpose of this program is threefold:

	A.	to provide for the health and safety of all Student Athletes;

	B.	to undermine the effects of peer pressure by providing a legitimate reason for Student Athletes to refuse to use illegal drugs; and

	C.	to encourage Student Athletes who use drugs to participate in drug treatment programs.

The program is non-punitive. It is designed to create a safe, drug free, environment for student athletes and assist them in getting help when needed. For the purpose of this Policy, the term "student athletes" shall be as defined by the Ohio High School Athletic Association or sanctioning organization.

SUPPORTING DATA

Random urine drug testing of a public school interscholastic athlete is legal as determined by the United States Supreme Court in the case of Vernonia School District 47J v. Acton (1995) 515 U.S. 646.

DEFINITIONS

Vendor – The medical office or company selected by the Board of Education to carry out the policy and procedure.

Athletic Director – The individual hired by the school or district to oversee all athletic programs of the school or district.

Medical Review Officer (MRO) – A licensed physician trained and certified in the process and interpretation of drug testing results.

Illicit Substance – A drug classified by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) as being available only by prescription from a physician or classified as being controlled and/or having no therapeutic use.

Banned Substance – A substance defined by School policy as being banned from use by students.

Student Athlete – A qualified student participating on a sanctioned athletic team as defined by the State Athletic Association. Cheerleaders are considered a sanctioned team, and members of the squads shall be considered student athletes under this Policy.

SAMHSA – The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration; a governmental agency that certifies toxicology laboratories that perform drug testing following strict guidelines and constant quality assurance programs.

GC/MS – Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectroscopy; a scientific process to identify specific chemical compounds. A molecular fingerprint is obtained that identifies a chemical compound.

Quantitative Levels – The measurement levels of a specific chemical in the urine reported usually in nanograms per milliliter (ng/ml).

Custody and Control Form – A preprinted form provided by the testing laboratory that records all contact with the provided specimen. The form is initiated by the collector and donor then follows with the specimen until the results are certified by the testing scientist and forwarded to the MRO for final certification.

Adulterant/Adulteration – Any attempt to alter the outcome of a saliva or urine drug test by adding or deleting a substance to or from the sample, attempting to switch the sample, or otherwise interfering with the detection of illicit or banned substances in the saliva or urine, or purposefully over hydrating oneself in an attempt to dilute the saliva or urine to decrease possible detection of illicit or banned substances.

Rapid Test Dip Device - Single step, immunoassay tests for the qualitative detection of drugs in urine. Presumptive positives will be confirmed by shipping the sealed split sample overnight to a certified laboratory.

One Step Cotinine Test Device - A lateral flow chromatographic immunoassay for the detection of Cotinine in human urine at a cut-off concentration of 200 ng/ml.

Saliva Screen Device - An Alcohol screen device that uses human saliva to detect the presence of alcohol. The cut-off of detectable alcohol is .02%.

PROCEDURES FOR STUDENT ATHLETES

	A.	Informed Consent for Testing

		At the beginning of the 9th grade year or at the beginning of a student's first High School sport involvement in the Defiance City School system the student athletes and parent/guardian/custodian shall complete and sign the Defiance City Athletic Code of Conduct and Expectations Informed Consent Agreement (Form 5530.01 F1). No student may participate in practice or competition until this form is properly executed and on file with the Athletic Director.

	B.	Drug Testing Frequency (Urine and/or Saliva)

		At the beginning of each sport season, as determined by the Ohio High School Athletic Association, or when a student moves into the District and joins a sport, all student athletes wishing to participate in that season's sports may be subject to testing for illicit or banned substances as specified in ILLICIT OR BANNED SUBSTANCES below. Following possible initial team testing, up to twenty percent (20%) of eligible student athletes per team may be randomly tested on up to a weekly basis anytime during the year. Any student who refuses to submit to drug testing will not be allowed to practice or participate in athletics at Defiance City Schools as the refusal shall count as a positive test and the applicable penalties described in this Policy shall apply. In such a case, in addition to the applicable penalties described in this Policy, there shall also be five (5) drug tests over the next 365 days, the specific times of which shall be at the discretion of the Defiance City School's Athletic Department, of any student athlete who has been found to have violated the Code of Conduct, be it through urine or saliva or any other means.

	C.	Sample Collection

		Samples will be collected as outlined under VENDOR REQUIREMENTS below and in AG 5530.01 - Procedures for Random Drug Testing of Students Participating in Interscholastic Sports. Any eligible student athlete selected randomly for drug testing who is not in school or unavailable on the day of testing must be tested within the next twenty-four (24) hours upon his/her return to school. Any student unable to produce an adequate specimen of urine during the collection period, after consuming up to 40 ounces of water and waiting up to 180 minutes, will be suspected of not cooperating with the testing program and will not be allowed to compete in any scheduled competitions until the required testing is completed. Students not able to provide an adequate urine or saliva specimen at the next testing time will be viewed as refusing to test and subject to this Policy's actions in that regard. Arrangements may be made for special collections at a Vendor Collection site with prior approval of the Building Principal or Athletic Director.

CONFIDENTIALITY OF RESULTS

All drug test results are considered confidential information and will be handled accordingly. Those persons having results reported to them as set forth by this Policy must sign a Confidentiality Statement (Form 5530.01 F2).

VENDOR REQUIREMENTS

At a minimum, the Vendor must be able to provide the following services:

	A.	Random Selection of Student Athletes

		Once provided a list of eligible student athletes, the Vendor must select the required number of students in a random and confidential manner. Up to weekly, the Vendor will arrange with the Athletic Director a day and time to do the collection of specimens. The schedule will not follow any recognizable pattern. The selected student names will be given to the Athletic Director at the school, who will arrange for these students to report to the collection area.

	B.	Collection of Urine and/or Saliva Specimens

		The Vendor will oversee the collection of urine and/or saliva specimens as outlined in the Procedures for Random Urine Drug Testing of Defiance City School District Students Participating in Interscholastic Sports. Custody and Control Forms will be provided by the Vendor that meet the criteria of this Policy and that of the testing laboratory. Students will be given as much privacy as possible in the obtaining of the specimen(s). Students may only be accompanied by an adult of the same sex while providing a urine sample.

C.	Testing of Urine/Saliva Specimens

	The Vendor will have all specimens tested for the specified illicit or banned substances with an on-site Rapid Test Dip Device, One Step Cotinine Test Device and/or Saliva Screen Device by a qualified and properly trained technician. Any positive on-site test will be sent to a laboratory certified by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) following the guidelines of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for confirmation. The testing laboratory should have greater than ten (10) years experience in toxicology testing and chain-of-custody procedures. All specimens must be initially tested using a highly accurate immunoassay technique, with all presumptive positive results then confirmed by a Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectroscopy (GC/MS) confirmatory test.

	The Rapid Test Dip Device, One step Cotinine Test Device and Saliva Screen Device and testing laboratory must be able to test for the following drug classes, substances or their metabolites in collected urine/saliva specimens. The Building Principal may specify specific classes or substances to be tested. It should be noted that laboratory tests are not limited to the following substances:

	Alcohol	Amphetamines	Anabolic Steroids
	Barbiturates	Benzodiazepines	Cocaine Metabolites
	LSD	Marijuana Metabolites	Methadone
	Methaqualone	Nicotine/Cotinine	Opiates
	Phencyclidine	Propoxyphene	MDMA (Ecstasy)

	The testing laboratory may also perform a 17-panel adulteration test (or similar test) to look for masking agents that could be added to the specimen.

	D.	Medical Review Officer (MRO) Services

		The Vendor will provide MRO services by a licensed physician who is certified by the Medical Review Officer Certification Council (MROCC) or the American Association of Medical Review Officers as having proven by examination to have had the appropriate medical training to interpret and evaluate drug test results and thus qualified for certification as a Medical Review Officer. Additionally the MRO must demonstrate a willingness to abide by the Procedure for Random Urine Drug Testing of Defiance City School District Students Participating in Interscholastic Sports as to the evaluation of positive drug tests and reporting findings to the Athletic Director in a timely and confidential manner. All results will be kept on file for a period of at least five (5) years.

	E.	Reporting of Random Drug Test Results by Vendor

		The MRO, personally or through facility staff, will certify all urine and/or saliva drug screens as negative or positive via written report and shall verbally report by telephone any positive findings in a confidential manner to the Athletic Director.

	F.	Statistical Reporting and Confidentiality of Drug Test Results

		The Vendor, testing laboratory, or MRO may not release any statistics on the rate of positive drug tests to any person, organization, news publication or media without expressed written consent of the Defiance City School District Board of Education. However, the Vendor will provide the Athletic Director with an annual report showing the number of tests performed, rate of positive and negative tests, and what substances were found in the positive urine and/or saliva specimens.

PROCEDURES IN THE EVENT OF A POSITIVE RESULT

Whenever the MRO reports that a student athlete's test result indicates the presence of illegal drugs, or banned substances, or adulteration, the following will occur:

	A.	The MRO contacts the Athletic Director first to report a positive reading and inquire as to any related circumstances. The Athletic Director shall then notify the Building Principal of the positive reading within forty-eight (48) hours or the next day that school is in session. The Building Principal shall notify the parents. The Athletic Director and/or Building Principal shall then notify the student athlete of the positive results. A written notification from the Building Principal or Athletic Director, by letter, will be sent to the parent/guardian/custodian.

	B.	The student will be notified and be required to submit to five (5) additional drug screens over the next twelve (12) months pursuant to this Policy, as well as being included for possible testing in the random selection of student athletes pursuant to this policy.

	C.	If the parent/guardian/custodian or student wishes to contest the results, the Vendor will arrange for the split portion of the specimen to be submitted to another laboratory approved by the Board of Education for testing. This is done at parent/guardian/custodian or student expense. Such a request must be made to the Building Principal in writing within five (5) working days from first notification of positive test results.

	D.	The MRO may use quantitative results to determine if positive results on repeat testing indicate recent use of illicit or banned substances or the natural decline of levels of the illicit or banned substance from the body. If the MRO finds the quantitative levels determined to be above the established cutoffs do not reflect current use but natural decay, then a negative result may be reported.

PENALTIES FOR POSITIVE RESULTS

A.	First Positive Result:

	1.	Denial of Participation for 20% of playable contests

	2.	Complete Drug Education Course

B.	Second Positive Result:

	Denial of Participation for One (1) calendar year - From Date of written notification of a positive result.

C.	Third Positive Result:

	Denial of Participation for remainder of High School career.

NON-PUNITIVE NATURE OF POLICY

No student athlete will be penalized academically for testing positive for illegal drugs or banned substances. The results of drug tests pursuant to this policy will not be documented in any student'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 Defiance City School District Board of Education will not solicit. In the event of service of any such subpoena or legal process, the student and the student's custodial parent, legal guardian, or custodian will be notified as soon as possible before response is made by the Defiance City School Board of Education, to the extent permitted by such subpoena or legal process.

ILLICIT OR BANNED SUBSTANCES

For the purpose of this Policy, the following drug classes, substances or their metabolites that can be tested for are considered illicit or banned substances for Defiance City School District student athletes:

Alcohol	Amphetamines	Anabolic Steroids
Barbiturates	Benzodiazepines	Cocaine Metabolites
LSD	Marijuana Metabolites	Methadone
Methaqualone	Nicotine/Cotinine	Opiates
Phencyclidine	Propoxyphene	MDMA (Ecstasy)

The testing laboratory may also perform a 17-panel adulteration test (or similar test) to look for masking agents that could be added.

Adopted 6/27/11