11.15 Testing Employees and Applicants for Employment with Regard to the Use of Alcohol and Illegal Chemical Substances

Statement of Purpose and Intent:
1. The safety of students and employees of the School District is of paramount concern to the School Board.
2. Employees who are under the influence of alcohol or an illegal chemical substance when the employee is on duty or on school property pose serious safety risks to students and other employees.
3. The use of alcohol and illegal chemical substances has a direct and adverse effect on the safety, personal health, attendance, productivity and quality of work of all employees and the safety of all students.
4. Recent scientific studies demonstrate that the use of alcohol and illegal chemical substances reduces an employee's ability to perform his job beyond the time period of immediate consumption or use.
5. The Board recognizes that all employees have certain personal rights guaranteed by the Constitutions of the United States of America and the State of Oklahoma as well as by the Standards for Workplace Drug and Alcohol Testing Act, Okla. Stat. tit. 40, ss 551 et seq..(Supp. 1993). This Policy will not infringe on those rights.
6. As a part of this Policy, the Board hereby adopts an Employee Assistance Program in which employees may be referred to third-party providers who will provide the employee, at the employee's expense, a confidential drug and alcohol dependency evaluation and referral service for substance abuse counseling, treatment or rehabilitation. The Board encourages employees who have chemical dependency problems to seek professional assistance.
7. Due to the devastating impact that the use of alcohol and illegal chemical substances can have on the safety of students and employees and their adverse affect on an employee's ability to perform the employee's job, the Board will not tolerate employees who use, possess, distribute, purchase, sell or are under the influence (as defined in the Policy) of alcohol or illegal chemical substances when on duty or while on school property.
8. This policy will apply to all employees of the School District regardless of position, title or seniority. Violations of this policy will subject the employee to disciplinary action, including dismissal or non-renewal of employment.
Definitions:

1. "Illegal chemical substance" means any substance which an individual may not sell, possess, use, distribute or purchase under either Federal or Oklahoma law. "Illegal chemical substance: includes, but is not limited to, all scheduled drugs as defined by the Oklahoma Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Act, all prescription drugs obtained without authorization and all prescribed drugs and over the counter drugs being used for an abusive purpose. By way of example only, the drugs which will be tested for are: amphetamines, cannabinoids, cocaine, phencyclidine (PCP), hallucinogens, methaqualone, opiates, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, synthetic narcotics, designer drugs, or any metabolite of any of these substances.
2. "Alcohol" means ethyl alcohol or ethanol.
3. "Under the influence" means any employee of the School District or applicant for employment with the School District who has any alcohol or illegal chemical substance or the metabolites thereof present in the person's body in any amount which is considered to be "positive" for such alcohol or drug or drug metabolites using any scientifically substantiated alcohol or drug use screen test and alcohol or drug use confirm test.
4. "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 chemical substance or the metabolites thereof using the cutoff standards or levels determined by the State Board of Health or in the absence of such State Board of Health or in the absence of such State Board cutoff levels, the cutoff levels customarily established by the testing laboratory administering the alcohol or drug use test.
5. "School property" means any property owned, leased or rented by the School District, including but not limited to school buildings, parking lots and motor vehicles.
6. "Drug and alcohol use test" means a chemical test administered for the purpose of determining the presence or absence of alcohol or illegal chemical substances or their metabolites in a person's blood, bodily tissue, fluids, products, urine, breath or hair.
7. "On duty" means any time during which an employee is acting in an official capacity for the School District or performing tasks within the employee's job description, including the taking of an annual physical examination.
8. "Reasonable suspicion" means a belief that an employee is using or has used alcohol or drugs in violation of this Policy drawn from specific objective and articulable fact and reasonable inferences drawn from those facts in the light of experience, and may be based upon, among other things:
a. Observable phenomena, such as:
(1) The physical symptoms or manifestations of being under the influence of alcohol or a drug while at work or on duty, or
(2) The direct observation of alcohol or drug use while at work or on duty;
b. A report of drug or alcohol use while at work or on duty, provided by reliable and credible sources and which has been independently corroborated;
c. Evidence that an individual has tampered with an alcohol or drug test during his employment with the School District; or
d. Evidence that an employee is involved in the use, possession, sale, solicitation or transfer of alcohol or drugs while on duty or while on the School District's premises or operating the School District's vehicles, machinery or equipment.
9. To the extent not specifically defined herein, the definition of any term, word or phrase found in his Policy shall be as set forth in the Oklahoma Standards for Workplace Drug and Alcohol Testing Act.

Procedures for Alcohol or Illegal Chemical Substance Testing:

1. Any alcohol or drug use test administered under the terms of this Policy will be administered by or at the direction of a professional laboratory licensed by the Oklahoma State Department of Health and using scientifically validated toxicological methods that comply with rules promulgated by the State Department of Health. The professional laboratory shall be required to have detailed written specifications to assure chain of custody of the samples, proper labeling, proper laboratory control and scientific testing. All aspects of the alcohol and drug use testing program, including the taking of samples, will be conducted so as to safeguard the personal and privacy rights of applicants and employees to the maximum degree possible and shall be conducted under reasonable sanitary conditions. The test sample shall be obtained in a manner which minimizes its intrusiveness.

In the case of urine samples, the samples must be collected in a restroom or other private facility behind a closed stall; a sample shall be collected in sufficient quantity for splitting into two (2) separate samples, pursuant to rules of the State Board of Health, to provide for any subsequent independent analysis in the event of a challenge of the test results of the main sample; the test monitor shall not observe any employee or applicant while the sample is being produced but the test monitor may be present outside the stall to listen for the normal sounds of urination in order to guard against tampered samples and to insure an accurate chain of custody; and the test monitor may verify the normal warmth and appearance of the sample. If at any time during the testing procedure the test monitor has reason to believe or suspect that an employee/applicant is tampering with the sample, the test monitor may stop the procedure and inform the test coordinator. The test monitor shall be of the same gender as the applicant/employee giving the sample.

The test monitor shall give each employee or applicant a form on which the employee or applicant may, but shall not be required to, list any medications he has taken or any other legitimate reasons for his having been in recent contact with alcohol or illegal chemical substances.
2. If the initial drug use test is positive for the presence of an illegal chemical substance or the metabolites thereof, the initial test result will be subject to confirmation by a second and different test of the same sample. The second test will use the gas chromatolography/mass spectroscopy technique or an equivalent scientifically accepted method of equal or greater accuracy as approved by rules of the State Board of Health, at the cutoff levels determined by Board rules. An applicant for employment will not be denied employment or an employee will not be subject to disciplinary procedures unless the second test is positive for the presence of illegal chemical substances or the metabolites thereof.
3. 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 and different test of the sample using and scientifically accepted method approved by rules of the State Board of Health, at the cutoff levels determined by Board rules.
4. Upon written request, the applicant for employment or the employee will be furnished with a free copy of all test results performed under this Policy. All test records and results will be confidential and kept in files separate from the employee or applicant's personnel records.
5. Any applicant for employment or employee who is subject to disciplinary action as a result of being under the influence of alcohol or an illegal chemical substance, as and for an appeal procedure, will be given a reasonable opportunity, in confidence, to explain or rebut the alcohol or drug use test results. If the applicant or employee asserts that the positive test results are caused by other than consumption of alcohol or an illegal chemical substance by the applicant or employee, then the applicant or employee will be given an opportunity to present evidence that the positive test result was produced by other than consumption of alcohol or an illegal chemical substance. The School District will rely on the opinion of the District's laboratory which performed the tests in determining whether the positive test result was produced by other than consumption of alcohol or an illegal chemical substance.

In the case of drug use testing, the employee or applicant will have a right to have a second gas chromatolography/mass spectroscopy test performed on the same test sample at the expense of the employee or applicant. In the case of alcohol testing, the employee or applicant will have a right to have a second test performed on the same test sample using any scientifically accepted method approved by rules of the State Board of Health, at the cutoff levels determined by Board rules. The request for the second test must be made within thirty (30) days after the date the positive test result is communicated to the employee or applicant and subject to the approval by the School District's consulting laboratory that (a) the facility selected by the applicant or employee for the second test meets the qualifications required for a testing facility under the Oklahoma Standards for Workplace Drug and Alcohol Testing Act and (b) the testing methodology used by the facility selected by the employee or applicant conforms to scientifically accepted analytical methods and procedures, including the cutoff levels, as determined by the State Board of Health. If the retest reverses the findings of the challenged positive result, then the School District will reimburse the applicant or employee for the costs of the retest. A proper chain of custody shall be maintained at all times in transmitting the sample to and from a second laboratory.
6. The laboratory reports and results of alcohol and drug use testing will be maintained on a confidential basis except as otherwise required by law. The laboratory performing alcohol or drug use tests for the School District will not report on or disclose to the School District any physical or mental condition affecting an employee or employment applicant which may be discovered in the examination of a sample other than the presence of alcohol or illegal chemical substances or the metabolites thereof. The use of samples to test for any other substances will not be permitted.

Employee Alcohol and Drug Use Tests - When Required:

1. Employees will be required to submit to alcohol and/or drug use testing as a required part of an annual physical examination to determine physical fitness for duty for:
a. All school bus drivers
b. School vehicle mechanics and
c. All other employees who are required to take an annual physical examination and whose job duties require them to be engaged in activities which directly affect the safety of others.

Each employee who is to be tested for alcohol or illegal chemical substances as a part of an annual physical examination will be given at least thirty (30) calendar days' notice of the date of his physical examination and attendant alcohol or drug use test. The annual physical examination shall be deemed "work time" for purposes of compensation and benefits.
2. Any employee whose behavior while on duty creates a reasonable individualized suspicion that the employee is under the influence of alcohol or an illegal chemical substance will be required to take an alcohol and/or drug use test.
3. When the School District has a reasonable suspicion that an employee or other person has sustained a work-related injury or the School District's property has been damaged as a direct result of the employee's use of alcohol or drugs, alcohol and/or drug use testing will be required.
4. Random drug use and/or alcohol testing of school bus drivers, school vehicle mechanics and employees who are engaged in activities which directly affect the safety of others will be conducted on a random selection basis. The term "random selection basis" means a mechanism for selecting employees for alcohol and/or drug testing that:
a. Results in an equal probability that any employee from a group of employees subject to the selection mechanism will be selected; and
b. Does not give the School District discretion to waive the selection of any employee selected under the mechanism.
5. Following a confirmed positive test or following participation in an alcohol or drug dependency treatment program under any benefit plan or at the request of the School District, the School District may request or require an employee to undergo alcohol or drug testing without prior notice for a period of up to two years, commencing with the employee's return to work.

Any employee who refuses to take an alcohol or drug use test when so required under the provisions of this Policy will be deemed to have committed an act of insubordination or willful neglect of duty which will be the basis for disciplinary action, including termination.



Employee Use, Sale, Possession, Distribution, Purchase or Being Under the Influence of Alcohol or Illegal Chemical Substance:

Any employee who possesses, uses, distributes, purchases, sells or is confirmed by alcohol or drug tests to be under the influence (as defined by this Policy) of alcohol or an illegal chemical substance while on duty, while on school property or as a result of alcohol or drug use tests conducted under this Policy will be subject to disciplinary action, including dismissal or non-renewal of employment.

Alcohol and Drug Use Tests of Applicants for Employment -- When Required:

All applicants for (a) bus driver (b) school vehicle mechanic (c) all other employees who are required to take an annual physical examination and whose job duties require them to be engaged in activities which directly affect the safety of others, will be required to submit to alcohol and/or drug use testing after a conditional offer of employment has been made to the applicant. All affected applicants will be notified that alcohol and/or drug use testing will occur if they are offered a conditional offer of employment. Any affected applicant who refuses to submit to an alcohol or drug use test after a conditional offer of employment will not be hired.

Applicants Under the Influence of Alcohol or An Illegal Chemical Substance:

Any applicant who is confirmed by alcohol or drug use tests to be under the influence (as defined by this Policy) of alcohol or an illegal chemical substance will not be hired.

Person Authorized to Order Alcohol or Drug Testing:
1. The following persons have the authority to require alcohol or drug use testing of employees under this Policy:
a. The Superintendent of Schools
b. Any employee designated for such purposes by the Superintendent or the School Board.

Circulation of Policy:
1. This policy shall be given broad circulation to all employees of the School District which shall include prominent posting at various places in the School District. Each affected applicant shall be given a copy of this Policy upon the tender of a conditional offer of employment.

The Standards for Workplace Drug and Alcohol Testing Act:
1. This Policy is subject to and supplemented by the Standards for Workplace Drug and Alcohol Testing Act (the "Act"). To the extent that any provision of this Policy is in contravention to the Act, then the Act shall control. To the extent that this Policy is silent as to any matter covered by the Act, then the Act shall control. This Policy shall be interpreted by the Board of Education of the School District and its employees consistent with the Act.

Source: Board of Education policy adoption, November 7, 1994.