Drug Testing Policy
WOODLAND PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT
EXTRACURRICULAR STUDENT POLICY ON TESTING FOR ALCOHOL
AND ILLEGAL OR PERFORMANCE ENHANCING DRUGS
The Board of Education, in an effort to protect the health and safety of its students from the possession or use of alcohol and illegal or performance enhancing drugs, thereby setting a positive example for all other students of the School District, adopts the following “Extracurricular Student Policy on Testing for Alcohol and Illegal or Performance Enhancing Drugs.”
Extracurricular activities include the following:
Academic Team All Athletic Teams
Cheerleading FFA
Class Officers Queens/Attendants/Escorts
Student Council Jr/Sr Prom and Class Trips
FCCLA National Honor Society
Pioneer Technology Center Quiz Bowl
Any other extracurricular activity
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE AND INTENT
1. It is the desire of the Board of Education, administration, and staff that every student in the School District refrain from using or possessing alcohol and illegal or performance enhancing drugs. Notwithstanding this desire, the administration and Board of Education realize that their power to restrict the possession or use of alcohol and illegal or performance enhancing drugs is limited. Therefore, except as provided below, the sanctions of this Policy relate solely to limiting the opportunity of any student determined to be in violation of this Policy to participate in extracurricular activities. This Policy is intended to supplement and complement all other policies, rules and regulations of the Woodland School District regarding possession or use of alcohol and illegal or performance enhancing drugs.
2. Participation in school-sponsored extracurricular activities of the School District is a privilege, not a right. Students who participate in these activities are respected by the student body and are expected to conduct themselves as good examples of behavior, sportsmanship and training. Accordingly, extracurricular students carry a responsibility to themselves, their fellow students, their parents and their school to set the highest possible examples of conduct, which includes avoiding the use or possession of alcohol and illegal or performance enhancing drugs.
3. The purpose of this Policy is to prevent alcohol and illegal or performance enhancing drug use, to educate extracurricular students as to the serious physical, mental and emotional harm caused by alcohol and illegal or performance enhancing drug use, to alert students with possible substance abuse problems to the potential harms of use, to prevent injury, illness and harm as a result of alcohol and illegal or performance enhancing drug use, and to strive within the Woodland School District for an extracurricular environment free of alcohol and illegal or performance enhancing drug possession and use. This Policy is not intended to be disciplinary or punitive in nature. The sanctions of this Policy relate solely to limiting the opportunity of any extracurricular student found to be in violation of this Policy to participate in extracurricular activities. There will be no academic sanction solely for a violation of this policy. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a student may be disciplined, including suspended out of school, if a violation of this policy also results in a violation of the School District’s Student Behavior Policy.
DEFINITIONS
“Extracurricular Student” means a 7th – 12th grade member of a Woodland School District sponsored team, club, organization or activity in which student participation is not required as a part of the School District curriculum and in which students represent the School District in competitions sanctioned by the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association or other statewide organization.
2. “Coach or sponsor” means any person hired by the School District to coach athletic teams of the School District or to act as a sponsor or coach of an extracurricular program of the School District.
3. “Athletics” and “athletic activity” means participation by a student on any athletic team or cheerleader team sponsored by the School District.
4. “In-season” means anytime during the day, night, weekends or holidays, including all time in and away from school during the entire school year for all extracurricular students and athletes.
5. “School District” means Independent School District No. 090 of Osage County, Oklahoma, also known as the Woodland School District.
6. “Alcohol” means ethyl alcohol or ethanol and any alcoholic beverage and includes “low-point beer” as defined by Oklahoma law.
7. “Illegal drugs” means any substance which an individual may not sell, possess, use, distribute or purchase under either federal or Oklahoma law. “Illegal drugs” include, but are 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, and paraphernalia to use such drugs.
8. “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.
9. “Drug or alcohol use test” means a chemical test administered for the purpose of determining the presence or absence of alcohol or illegal or performance enhancing chemical substances or their metabolites in a student’s blood, bodily tissue, fluids, products, urine, breath, saliva, or hair.
10. “Random selection basis” means a mechanism for selecting students for drug and/or alcohol use testing that:
a. results in an equal probability that any student from a group of students subject to the selection mechanism will be selected, and
b. does not give the School District discretion to waive the selection of any extracurricular student selected under the mechanism.
11. “Positive” when referring to an alcohol or drug use test administered under this Policy means a toxicological test result which is considered to demonstrate the presence of alcohol or an illegal or a performance enhancing drug or the metabolites thereof using the standards customarily established by the testing laboratory administering the drug or alcohol use test.
12. “Reasonable suspicion” means a suspicion based on specific personal observations concerning the appearance, speech or behavior of an extracurricular student, and reasonable inferences drawn from those observations in the light of experience. Information provided by a reliable source, if based on personal knowledge, shall constitute reasonable suspicion. In the context of performance enhancing drugs, reasonable suspicion specifically includes unusual increases in size, strength, weight or other athletic abilities.
PARTICIPATION AND PROCEDURES
Alcohol and illegal or performance enhancing drug possession or use is incompatible with participation in extracurricular activities on behalf of the School District. For the safety, health and well being of the extracurricular students of the School District, the School District has adopted this Policy for use by all participating extracurricular students at the 7th – 12th grade level. Any extracurricular student found to be in possession of, or having used alcohol or illegal or performance enhancing drugs, either by observation or drug or alcohol use test, will be considered to have violated this Policy.
Each extracurricular student shall be provided with a copy of this Policy and the “Extracurricular Student Alcohol and Illegal or Performance Enhancing Drugs Consent form” (the “Consent form”) which shall be read, signed and dated by the extracurricular student, parent or custodial guardian, and a coach or sponsor before such extracurricular student shall be eligible to practice or participate in any extracurricular activity. No student shall be allowed to practice or participate in any extracurricular activity unless the student has returned the properly signed Consent form.
The principal, athletic director and applicable coach/sponsor shall be responsible for determining whether a violation of this Policy has occurred when an observation of possession or use of alcohol or illegal drug by an extracurricular student has been reported. If a violation of the Policy is determined to have occurred, the principal will contact the student, the head coach/sponsor, the superintendent and the parent or custodial guardian of the extracurricular student and schedule a conference. At the conference, the violation of the Policy will be described and the restrictions explained.
All extracurricular students may be required to provide a urine and/or hair sample and/or saliva swab for testing for illegal drugs as part of their annual physical examination and/or prior to the start of the season for each sport in which a student participates.
Drug and/or alcohol use testing for extracurricular students will also be chosen on a random selection basis from a list of all extracurricular students. The School District will determine a monthly number of student names to be drawn at random to provide a urine and/or hair sample and/or saliva swab for drug and/or alcohol use testing for alcohol and/or illegal or performance enhancing drugs.
In addition to the drug and alcohol use tests required by paragraphs 4 and 5, any extracurricular student may be required to submit to a drug and/or alcohol use test for alcohol or illegal or performance enhancing drugs or the metabolites thereof at any time upon reasonable suspicion.
The School District may set a fee charge to be collected from each student when the Consent form is signed and returned to the coach or sponsor at the beginning of a season.
Any alcohol or drug use test required by the School District under the terms of this Policy will be administered by or at the direction of a professional laboratory chosen by the School District using scientifically validated toxicological methods. The professional laboratory shall be required to have detailed written specifications to assure chain of custody of the specimens, 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 students 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 shall designate a coach/sponsor or other adult person 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 ensure 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 who will then determine if a new sample should be obtained. If a student is determined to have tampered with any specimen or otherwise engaged in any conduct that disrupts the testing process of any student, then the student will be deemed to have committed a second offense under this Policy and the sanctions for a second offense will be imposed. The monitor shall give each student a form on which the student may list any medications s/he has taken or any other legitimate reasons for having been in contact with illegal drugs or performance enhancing drugs in the preceding thirty (30) days. The medication list may be submitted to the lab in a sealed and confidential envelope.
If an initial drug use test is positive, the initial test result will be subject to confirmation by a second and different test of the same specimen. A specimen shall not be reported positive unless the second test procedure is positive for the presence of an illegal drug or performance enhancing drug or the metabolites thereof. If an initial alcohol use test is positive for the presence of alcohol, the initial test result will be subject to confirmation by a second test using any scientifically accepted method. The second test will use the gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy technique.
If the alcohol or drug use test for any student has a positive result, the laboratory will contact the principal with the results. The principal will contact the extracurricular student, the head coach/sponsor, the superintendent and the parent or custodial guardian of the student and schedule a conference. At the conference, the principal will solicit any explanation for the positive result and ask for doctor prescriptions of any drugs that the student was taking that might have affected the outcome of the alcohol or drug use test. If the student and his/her parent or custodial guardian desires another test of the remaining portion, if any, of the specimen, the principal will arrange for another test at the same laboratory or at another laboratory agreeable to the principal. Any such re-test shall be at the expense of the student and his/her parent or custodial guardian.
If the extracurricular student asserts that the positive test results are caused by something other than consumption of alcohol or an illegal or performance enhancing drug by the student, then the student will be given an opportunity to present evidence of such to the principal. The School District will rely on the opinion of the original laboratory which performed the test in determining whether the positive test result was produced by something other than consumption of alcohol or an illegal or a performance enhancing drug.
An extracurricular 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 appeal must be lodged within five (5) business days of notice of the initial report of the offense. The superintendent or his/her designee(s) shall then determine whether the original finding was justified. There is no further appeal right from the superintendent’s decision and his/her decision shall be conclusive in all respects. Any necessary interpretation or application of this Policy shall be the sole and exclusive judgment and discretion of the superintendent, which shall be final and non-appealable.
Before an extracurricular student who has tested positive in an alcohol or drug use test may rejoin his/her extracurricular activity after a first or second offense, such student will be required to undergo one or more additional alcohol or drug use tests to determine whether the student is no longer using alcohol or illegal or performance enhancing drugs. The School District will rely on the opinion of the laboratory which performed or analyzed the additional alcohol or drug use test in determining whether a positive result in the additional alcohol or drug use test was produced by alcohol or illegal or performance enhancing drugs used by the student before the offense or by more recent use.
All documents created pursuant to this Policy with regard to any student will be kept in a confidential folder and will never be made a part of the student’s cumulative folder nor be considered a “disciplinary” record.
VIOLATION
Any extracurricular student who is determined by observation or by alcohol or drug use tests to have violated this Policy shall be subject to the loss of the privilege to participate in extracurricular activities.
For the First Offense: Principal or designee will schedule a meeting that includes the student and the student’s parent(s) or guardian, coach or sponsor, and superintendent. The student will be subject to a random test within the next 30 days and monthly for 90 days. These restrictions and requirements shall begin immediately following the determination of an observed violation or the reporting of the results of a positive alcohol or drug use test.
For the Second Offense (in the same school year): Complete suspension from participation in all extracurricular activities including all meetings, practices, performances, and competition for 30 calendar days and until a clean test is provided will be applied. Offenses shall not accumulate from school year to school year.
Third Offense (in the same school year): Suspension from participating in all extracurricular activities for the remainder of the school year.
REFUSAL TO SUBMIT TO ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE TEST
If, after signing the Consent form, an extracurricular student refuses to submit to an alcohol or drug use test authorized under this Policy, such student shall not be eligible to participate in any extracurricular activities including all meetings, practice, performances and competition until they submit to a drug test.
Parents of students not involved in extracurricular activities may choose to enroll their child in this program by reading the policy, filling out the consent form and returning it to their child’s principal.