Senate Bill No. 296
(By Senator Sypolt)
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[Introduced February 19, 2009; referred to the Committee on
Education; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §18-2-38, relating to
requiring the State Board of Education to create a school drug
safety program; and specifying minimum requirements for the
program.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §18-2-38, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 2. STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION.
§18-2-38. School drug safety program.
(a) The Legislature recognizes that the safety issues which
face schools are constantly changing. The Legislature finds the
safety of school children should be a priority of the state. The
Legislature further finds that all employees of a county board of education who are employed in a school are employed in safety
sensitive positions and that the use of illegal drugs by these
employees could endanger the lives and safety of school children.
(b) (1) The state board shall create a school drug safety
program which shall include drug testing of all individuals prior
to hiring, transferring or promoting to positions within a school.
The program shall also include random drug testing of all
individuals employed in a school.
(2) The program shall include, at a minimum, provisions:
(A) Prohibiting employees of county boards of education from
manufacturing, distributing, dispensing, being under the influence
of, purchasing, possessing, using or attempting to purchase or
obtain in the workplace or in the performance of duties, alcohol or
any narcotic drug, hallucinogenic drug, amphetamine, barbiturate,
marijuana or any other controlled substance as defined in chapter
sixty-a of this code;
(B) Providing that employees who personally use or who are
designated to administer to a student a drug authorized by and
administered in accordance with a prescription from a health
professional are not violating the program;
(C) Requiring, prior to hiring, promoting or transferring an
individual into an employment position in a school, the individual
to submit to a urinalysis test for the purpose of detecting illegal
use of drugs;
(D) Requiring all individuals employed in a school when the
program takes effect, to take the initial drug testing required for
preemployment;
(E) Establishing a random drug testing program for all
individuals employed in a school;
(F) Providing a process to reasonably ensure employee privacy
during the taking of samples, security of samples once obtained and
designation of laboratory services that are accurate and reliable;
(G) Requiring that appropriate measures are taken to protect
confidentiality throughout the testing process and in the handling
of test results;
(H) Restricting access to drug testing results on a
need-to-know basis to those persons in positions designated by the
county superintendent;
(I) Providing that each county board of education will be
responsible for the cost of all testing required under the program;
and
(J) Specifying disciplinary actions for those found in
violation of the program.
(c) As used in this section "individuals employed in a school"
include all employees of a county board who may have contact with
students as a part of their job responsibilities and all other
persons who are permitted by a school or a county board to have
contact with students either on or off of school property, including, but not limited to, field trips and athletic events.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require the State Board
of Education to create a school drug safety program. The bill
would require the program to include drug testing of individuals
prior to being hired, transferred or promoted to positions within
a school and include random drug testing of all individuals
employed in a school.
§18-2-38 is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring
have been omitted.
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