Beaufort County high school athletes to see random drug tests + survey

The Beaufort County School District will begin random drug testing for high school athletes in the fall, with phased-in drug testing in future years for other voluntary activities.

Under the program, those who participate in other extracurricular activities will be tested beginning in August 2016, and high school students who park on campus will be subject to testing starting in 2017.

Testing for the three areas is covered legally under U.S. Supreme Court rulings, superintendent Jeff Moss said. Parents of students in grades seven through 12 not participating in extracurricular activities or parking on campus can choose to have their children participate in the program.

Middle school athletes who play on high school teams also will be tested.

The testing will not include performance-enhancing drugs, which Moss said has produced sparse positive tests in other districts.

The new policy does not require Board of Education approval, but the board voted 9-1 Tuesday to endorse it. Board member Michael Rivers voted against the endorsement, saying district employees and coaches should also be tested.

Urine testing will be conducted by an independent, contracted company. Under the program, failed drug tests will not be reported to law enforcement or result in school discipline, unless the student is under the influence at the time of the test, but will result in loss of eligibility that can be regained through substance-abuse counseling. The student and their parents would be have to meet with the school's principal.

The district considered policies used throughout the country, Moss said, aiming for a program based on intervention.

"The goal is not to play 'I got you' with a student," Moss said. "The goal is to actually identify how we can put a support structure in place to address students that may be abusing drugs or alcohol."

For a first positive test, the student could not participate in extracurricular activities or to park on campus for 365 days but could stay eligible by receiving an assessment by a licensed substance-abuse professional and completing at least one treatment session within 10 days of the positive test.

The student would then have to pass another drug test within 30 to 90 days after the first failed test.

For a second failed test, a student could regain eligibility by completing a substance-abuse program and passing another drug test.

A student would be ineligible for extracurricular activities and parking for 365 days for a third failed test and would have to complete a substance-abuse program and pass another drug test to be eligible the next year.

A urine sample will be split in two. If a student tests positive, a parent can pay to have the other sample tested. If that test is negative, the district would reimburse the money.

Refusing to submit to testing or leaving school will be considered a positive test. Students selected for testing who are absent will be tested the following month, not knowing they were drawn.

Drug testing will cost the district no more than $50,000 the first year, under one quote Moss has received.

Test dates will be random and at least once a month, with at least 38 students at each school tested each month. The district expects to perform 1,710 tests each year, out of about 2,650 athletes expected to participate.

Numbers will be assigned to students' names and randomly drawn each test date. School district employees will not participate in the process.

In response to Rivers' contention that district employees should also be tested, Moss said the law only allows testing for employees when there is reasonable suspicion of drug use.

He suggested he and board members could submit to voluntary testing. Moss said during previous stops, he was able to require coaches to submit to testing, because law allows it if all coaches are required to hold commercial driver's licenses.

Board members discussed the possibility of coaches voluntarily submitting to testing, that all might consent because of peer pressure, or that all coaches be required to hold CDLs.

"If not all employees, definitely administrators and people making the rules should be accountable to the same rules they want the students held to," Rivers said. "I think it would set a good example."

This story was originally published June 16, 2015 at 8:01 PM with the headline "Beaufort County high school athletes to see random drug tests + survey."