| SHANDON HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETICS 2000-2001 "Home of the Outlaws" DRUG TESTING POLICY Shandon Unified School District requires that all students representing their school in athletics remain drug free, while participating in sports. An athlete should realize that the use of drugs is detrimental to his/her health and performance and must agree not to use such substances while involved in high school and middle school athletics. In order to accomplish these goals the Shandon Unified School District has enacted policies regarding involvement with drugs at school and outside of school. In addition, the District requires that athletes in the district participate in random drug testing throughout their season of sport. Policy Statement: In order to provide for the health and safety of the individual athlete and other athletes, to provide a legitimate reason for students to say "no" to drugs use and to provide an opportunity for those taking drugs to receive help in locating a program of assistance, the District is conducting a mandatory drug testing program for student-athletes. The program is not punitive. It is designed to create a safe, drug free, healthy environment for student athletes and assist them in getting help when needed. Definitions: Drug: Any substance considered illegal or controlled by the Food and Drug Administration. Student-Athlete: Any student participating in athletic practices and or contests under the control and jurisdiction of the Shandon Unified School District. Sport Season: Fall, Winter and Spring seasons begin on the first day of practice allowed by the California Interscholastic Federation (C.I.F) or Shandon Unified School District and end the day of the last contest for all sports. Consent: The parent and or guardian and the student-athlete are required to sign a written consent for drug testing prior to participating in the athletic program. Medication: Student-athletes who have taken or are currently taking prescription medication must declare this fact on the day of testing. The student must provide verification (either a copy of the prescription or by doctor's authorization) if the drug test is positive. Students who refuse to provide verification and test positive will be subject to actions specified below. Student Selection: All student athletes may be tested at the beginning of the individual's first season of participation. Random testing will be conducted during the sports season. Students selected for random testing will be selected by having their names drawn from a "pool" of student-athletes. "Positive" Test: If the student-athlete's test indicates positive results, the sample will be sent to a professional laboratory for verification. All involved will be notified only if the lab results come back positive. The refusal by a student-athlete to take a urine test will be considered the equivalent of a positive test. Adulterated Urine: An attempt to alter the urine sample, either with a commercial adulterant, a home-brew recipe or using another person's urine, which would allow the subject to show a false negative on the drug screen. Policy: I. All student-athletes and their parents must give written consent for drug testing prior to participation in sports. Those who do not will not be allowed to play. II. All student-athletes will be tested (mandatory) at the beginning of the sports season. For those who do not play a Fall season sport, they will be tested at the beginning of whatever season they begin sports. Also, if a student comes out to the team late (after that season has begun), this individual will be tested at that time. If an individual plays more than one sport they are tested (mandatory) only at the beginning of their first season. III. Testing will be performed randomly throughout the remainder of the year. Testing will take place at random times and with random people. A lottery type of system will be used where the student-athletes are assigned numbers and these corresponding numbers will be drawn on certain dates. If the student-athlete's number is drawn, this person will be tested. It is important to note that every single number will be available to be drawn and tested every time. IV. Testing will be administered by the Athletic Director. V. Refusal to be tested will be treated the same as a positive verification (see below). VI. If a positive test occurs or proof of adulterated urine (failed drug test): The student-athlete will be treated as innocent until proven guilty. The positive sample will be immediately sealed and sent to the company's professional laboratory for verification. If a positive verification returns from the company the following procedure will be used. First time positive verification (failed drug test): 1. Testing for that individual will become mandatory for the remainder of the athletic year. If that student tested positive during Football/Volleyball season and they played Basketball then testing would remain mandatory throughout Basketball season. If the individual also then played a Spring sport, testing would remain mandatory through the Spring season. 2. This mandatory testing will occur at least once every two weeks, but no more than three times for a two week period. This mandatory testing will be up to the athletic director's discretion as to when and how much to test. 3. The cost of the mandatory drug testing will become the responsibility of the student-athlete. This cost will include the lab fees, if another positive test should occur. 4. The student-athlete will be suspended from game play, until the following occurs: a. a minimum of one-half of the regular season games has been missed and b. the individuals' mandatory drug tests are now "clean" and unadulterated.* *policy is written this way, because marijuana can be in the system for up to 45 days which could cause the individual to miss more than one-half of the regular season games. *C.I.F. playoff games will be counted as two regular games. 5. The student-athlete will still be required to continue to practice with the team (throughout suspension). The goal here is to keep this individual involved. The individuals' practice attendance will be charted, and regular team rules regarding absence from practice will apply to the individual. If this person should be released from the team, due to unexcused missed practices, they will still be required to take mandatory drug tests for future sports seasons' eligibility (Winter and Spring). These mandatory drug tests will continue from the point of the positive test, NOT from the time of the new sports season. If the student-athlete refuses to take the tests he/she will not be eligible for play in the remaining seasons that year. Second Time Failed: The student-athlete will be excluded completely from Athletics for the remainder of that school year. * *the only exception to this rule would be in the case of retesting (mandatory) a marijuana offender. Days from the time of the offense would have to be charted in this case, as THC stays in the system for up to 45 days. So, this individual could conceivably test positive for THC 18 times during his/her mandatory testing period. If however, they test positive once, after the 45 day period, they will be excluded. Positive adulteration test: Any student found to be tampering with the sample, providing adulterated samples, using another person's sample as your own will be ineligible for all interscholastic athletics for one calendar year. VII. Notification of student-athlete and parent(s)/legal guardian: After confirmation of a positive result from the laboratory has returned, the student-athlete and parent(s)/guardian(s) will be informed of the result. A conference will be held at which the student-athlete, parents/guardians, head coach and an administrator will be present. The results will be presented and the future of the student-athlete, in terms of athletics at Shandon High School, will be determined. VIII. This policy and its applications will be reviewed yearly. Any changes needed will be discussed and made at that time. |