| Wa-Nee Community School Corporation |
| Bylaws & Policies |
5530.01 - EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES AND STUDENT DRIVER DRUG AND/OR ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES RANDOM TESTING PROGRAM
A STATEMENT OF NEED AND PURPOSE
A program of deterrence will be instituted as a pro-active approach to a drug and alcoholic beverage free school. Through driving or participation in extra-curricular activities, students using illegal drug and/or alcoholic beverages pose a threat to their own health and safety, as well as to that of other students. The purpose of this program is three (3) fold: (1) to provide for the health and safety of students; (2) to undermine the effects of peer pressure by providing a legitimate reason for students to refuse to use illegal drugs or alcoholic beverages; and (3) to encourage students who use drugs to participate in drug treatment programs.
Students involved in extra-curricular activities need to be exemplary in the eyes of the community and other students. It is further the purpose of this program to prevent students from driving to and from school or participating in extra-curricular activities while s/he has drug residues in his/her body, and it is the purpose of this program to educate, help, and direct students away from drug and alcohol abuse and toward a healthy and drug free lifestyle. This program is designed to create a safe, drug-free environment for students and assist them in getting help when needed. No student shall be expelled or suspended from school as result of any verified "positive" test conducted by his/her school under this program other than stated therein. No student will be penalized academically for testing positive for illegal drugs or other banned substances.
INTRODUCTION
The effective date of this program is November, 2002. This program does not affect the current policies, practices, or rights of the Corporation with drug and/or alcohol possession or use, where reasonable suspicion is obtained by means other than drug testing through this policy. The Corporation reserves the right to test any student who at any time exhibits cause for reasonable suspicion of drug and/or alcoholic beverage usage.
REASONABLE CONCERN
The Corporation has a strong commitment to the health, safety, and welfare of its students. Our commitment to maintaining the extra-curricular activities in the Corporation as a safe and secure educational environment requires a clear policy and supportive programs relating to detection, treatment, and prevention of substance abuse by students involved in extra-curricular activities.
SCOPE
Participation in extra-curricular activities is a privilege. This policy applies to all Corporation students in grade 7-12 who wish to participate in any school sponsored extra-curricular activities. It also includes any student who wishes to drive to school, from school, or during school.
CONSENT FORM
It is MANDATORY that each student who participates in extra-curricular activities or drives to, from or during school sign and return to the school office a "consent form". Failure to comply will result in non-participation and/or no issue of a student parking permit to school.
At the beginning of each school year, sport seasons (as determined by the Indiana High School Athletic Association), extra-curricular activity, or when a student moves into the Corporation and joins an activity, all students wishing to participate in that season's activities may be subject to drug and alcoholic beverage testing for illicit or banned substances. Any student who refuses to submit to drug and alcoholic beverage testing will not be allowed to practice or participate in Corporation extra-curricular activities or drive to school.
Each student shall be provided a "consent form" (Form 5530B F1) which shall be dated and signed by the participant and by the parent/guardian. In so doing, the student and parent/guardian are agreeing to participate in the random drug testing program at the Corporation.
TESTING PROCEDURES
| A. | The selection of participants to be tested will be done randomly by the principal/toxicology testing personnel, and/or the principal/designee. Selections will be made from time-to-time throughout the school year. Names will be drawn from one (1) large pool of those agreeing to be tested. Testing may occur on a different day, Monday through Saturday. Each student will be assigned a number that will be placed in the testing pool. | |
| B. | If the student shows signs of reasonable suspicion, the principal/administrative designee may call the student's parent/guardian and request that the student be tested. | |
| C. | No student will be given advance notice or early warning of the testing. In addition, a strict chain of custody will be enforced to eliminate invalid tests or outside influences. | |
| D. | Upon being selected for a urinalysis test under this policy, either by random draw, reasonable suspicion, or a "follow-up" test, a student will be required to provide a sample of "fresh" urine according to the quality control standards and policy of the laboratory conducting the urinalysis. | |
| E. | All students will remain under school supervision until they have produced an adequate urine specimen. If unable to produce a specimen, the student will be given up to twenty-four (24) ounces of fluid. If still unable to produce a specimen within two (2) hours, the student will be taken to the principal's office and told s/he is no longer eligible for any of the extra-curricular activities. In addition, the parents/guardian will be telephoned and informed the student is unable to produce a sample for the testing procedure and that s/he may be tested at a later date to be reinstated for eligibility. | |
| F. | All specimens registering below 90.5 degrees or above 99.8 degrees Fahrenheit will be invalid. There is a heat strip on each of the specimen bottles indicating the validity of the urine specimen by temperature. If this occurs, another specimen must be given by the student. | |
| G. | If it is proven that tampering or cheating has occurred during the collection, the student will become ineligible for all the "extra-curricular activities" for the remainder of the school year. This will be reported to the parent/guardian. | |
| H. | Immediately after the specimen is taken, the student may return to class with an admit slip or pass with the time s/he left the collection site. The principal/designee must time and sign the pass. | |
| I. | The specimens will then be turned over to the testing laboratory, and each specimen will be tested for alcohol, and "street drugs" (which may include all drugs listed as controlled substances under the laws of the State of Indiana). Also "performance enhancing" drugs such as steroids may be tested. | |
| J. | The laboratory selected must follow the standards set by the Department of Health and Human Services. It must be certified under the auspices of the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act (CLIA) and the Joint Commission of Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO). |
CHAIN OF CUSTODY
| A. | The certified laboratory will provide training and direction to those who supervise the testing program, set up the collection environment, and guarantee specimens and supervise the chain-of-custody. To maintain anonymity, the student's number, not name, will be used. | |
| B. | The principal/designee will be responsible for escorting students to the collection site. The student should bring all materials with him/her to the collection site and should not be allowed to go to his/her locker. (The administrator should not bring all the students drawn from the pool to the collection site simultaneously. Calling four (4) or five (5) students at a time allows the collections to be carried out quickly and will not cause students to wait a long time, thereby creating a loss of important time from class. Athletes and extra-curricular activities participants may be called after school, perhaps during practice time.) | |
| C. | Before the student's urine is tested by the laboratory, students will agree to fill out, sign, and date any form which may be required by the testing laboratory. If a student chooses, s/he may notify the administrator that s/he is taking a prescription medication. | |
| D. | A sanitized kit containing a specimen bottle will be given to each student. The bottle will remain in the student's possession until a seal is placed upon the bottle. The student will sign that the specimen has been sealed. The seal may be broken only by the lab testing the specimen. | |
| E. | If the seal is tampered with or broken, after leaving the student's possession and prior to arriving at the lab, the specimen is invalid. The student will be called again as soon as possible. The student will remain eligible for extra-curricular activities subsequent to a retest. | |
| F. | The supervisor obtaining the urine specimen will be of the same gender as the student. Students will be instructed to remove all coats and wash their hands in the presence of the supervisor prior to entering the restroom. The door will be closed so that the student is by himself/herself in the restroom to provide a urine specimen. The supervisor will wait outside the restroom. The student will have two (2) minutes to produce a urine specimen. The commode will contain a blue dye so the water cannot be used to dilute the sample. |
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G. |
After it has been sealed, the specimen will be transported to the testing laboratory by lab personnel. The testing laboratory will report the results back to the principal/designee. |
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H. |
In order to maintain confidentiality, the container which contains the urine specimen to be tested will not have the name of the student on the container. Instead the student's random identification number will appear on the container. Also, the result sheet for the urinalysis will be mailed back to the principal/designee with no name attached; only the student's random identification number will appear on the result sheet. |
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TEST RESULTS |
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A. |
This program seeks to provide needed help for students who have a verified "positive" test. The student's health, welfare, and safety will be the reason for preventing students from participation in extra-curricular activities and restrict him/her from driving to or from school. |
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B. |
The principal/designee will be notified of a student testing "positive" (that is, if the test shows that drug residues are in the student's system after using at least two (2) different types of analyses). The principal/designee will notify the student and his/her parent/guardian. The student or his/her parent/guardian may submit any documented prescription, explanation, or information which will be considered in determining whether a "positive" test has been satisfactorily explained. |
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C. |
If the test is verified "positive", the principal/designee will meet the student and his/her parent/guardian at a School Corporation facility. The student and parent/guardian will be given the names of counseling and assistance agencies that the family may want to contact for help. |
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A student involved in athletics who tests positive will be subject to disciplinary consequences outlined in the Athletic Code of Conduct. A student involved in non-athletic extra-curricular activities will be subject to the disciplinary consequences outlined in the applicable extra-curricular activities Code of Conduct. A student driver who tests positive will have his/her driving privileges suspended for twelve (12) weeks. |
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A "follow-up" test will be requested by the principal/designee after the suspension of athletic, extra-curricular activities, and parking privileges and after such an interval of time that the substance previously found would normally have been eliminated from the body. If this "follow-up" test is negative, the student will be allowed to resume extra-curricular activities and/or driving. If a second "positive" result is obtained from the "follow-up" test, or any later test of that participant, the same previous procedures shall be followed. In addition, the Corporation reserves the right to continue testing at any time during the remaining school year any participating student who tested "positive" and did not make satisfactory explanation. |
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D. |
Information on a verified "positive" test result will be shared on a "need to know" basis with the student's coach or sponsor. The results of "negative" tests will be kept confidential to protect the identity of all students being tested. |
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E. |
Drug testing results sheets will be returned to the principal/designee identifying students by number and not by name. Names of students tested will not be kept in open files or on any computer. Result sheets will be secured in a location that only the principal/designee has access. |
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STATISTICAL REPORTING AND CONFIDENTIALITY OF DRUG TEST RESULTS
The testing laboratory 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 Board of Education. However, the lab will provide the building principal with a quarterly report showing the number of tests performed, rate of positive and negative tests, and what substances were found in the positive urine specimens.
FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
| A. | Under this policy, the Corporation will pay for all initial random drug tests, all initial reasonable suspicion drug tests, and all initial "follow-up" drug tests. Once a student has a verified "positive" test result and has subsequently tested negative from a "follow-up" test, any future "follow-up" drug test that must be conducted will be paid for by the student or his/her parent/guardian. | |
| B. | A request on appeal for another test of a "positive" urine specimen is the financial responsibility of the student or his/her parent/guardian. | |
| C. | Counseling and subsequent treatment by non-school agencies is the financial responsibility of the student or his/her parent/guardian. |
CONFIDENTIALITY
Under this drug testing program, any staff, coach, or sponsor of the Corporation who may have knowledge of the results of a drug test will not divulge to anyone the results of the test or the disposition of the student involved, other than in the case of a legal subpoena being made upon that person in the course of a legal investigation.
OTHER RULES
Apart from this drug testing program, NorthWood High School and NorthWood Middle School Athletic Departments and the coaching staff/sponsor of each sport/activity have their own training rules and requirements. Coaches/Sponsors have the necessary authority to enforce those rules. Any student who violates a rule or requirement as a member of a team or activity will be subject to the consequences as defined in those rules and requirements.
Approved 10/14/02