Student drug, alcohol testing policy nixed

PONDERAY — While drug and alcohol use is strictly against Lake Pend Oreille School District policy, the district does not currently have a testing policy for students in extracurricular activities.

If the board of trustees' discussion Tuesday night is any indication, that will not be changing any time soon.

"From an administrative standpoint, we are not recommending that we have a drug and alcohol testing program," said LPOSD Superintendent Shawn Woodward, who opened the discussion Tuesday.

Woodward said the topic came up last spring when a parent asked why the district does not have such a testing program for students in athletics and other activities. The purpose of the discussion was to determine whether the current trustees had any interest in implementing a policy.

"To be clear, we are not adopting or presenting any policy tonight," said Lake Pend Oreille School Board Chair Geraldine Lewis.

Regional school districts cover a wide spectrum of severity for drug and alcohol testing, Woodward said, from Coeur d'Alene, which allows students to opt in for voluntary testing, to West Bonner County School District, which requires all high school athletes to be tested prior to the season.

Sandpoint High School Principal Tom Albertson said the topic of testing in the district has "surfaced" before, but as far as he knows, there has never been a policy that required it. He said there is a "very small" number of drug or alcohol incidents at school due to efforts of teaching staff and campus security. Drug dogs are randomly walked through the hallways as well, he said.

Woodward said the board does have a policy in place, Board Policy 2370, which outlines rules and requirements for extracurricular activities.

According to the policy, "a student may be suspended from extracurricular and co-curricular activities when he/she has been arrested or it reasonably appears to the district that he/she has violated criminal law, other than minor infractions or minor traffic violations; or has been involved with drug paraphernalia, controlled substances, or drugs, including alcohol or tobacco, in any location, either on or off campus, during the scholastic year, in any of the following ways: attempting to secure or purchase; using or having reasonable suspicion of having used; possession; intending or attempting to sell or distribute; selling or giving away; or being knowingly present when any of the above are used, possessed, or consumed."

District trustees agreed the policy is working, and unanimously decided they were not interested in introducing a policy for voluntary or required testing at this time.

Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.