Staff Drug Testing Policy Settled
The trustees of the Council School Board met for their regular meeting on September 17th. Bob Grossen, Earl Henderson and Steve Ryals were present. Shawn Stanford and Julie Pate were absent. District staff and about 8 teachers were present.
Superintendent Mr. Griffin gave his administrative report on the first part of the school year and the things he is implementing and working on.
Griffin has hired Richard Boucher to help develop their 10 year long range facilities plan. This is so that the district can apply for and receive funds from the state as a result of HB521. This bill was passed in this year’s legislative session as a way to help districts with the cost of maintaining and constructing school buildings. He hopes to have this plan submitted by November.
Griffin also reported that Angie Mendenhall applied for and received a grant for $3,000 for new books for the library. Ms. Sheldon, the new music teacher, also received a grant for $2,200 to purchase guitars and other instruments.
The board, over several meetings, have discussed the idea of drug testing staff since they also recently enacted a tougher drug testing policy for students. Current district drug testing policy for staff is on ‘reasonable suspicion’ or after an accident if there is a fatality or citation issued to the district employee according to policy on the district’s website. This policy also states that new hires ‘may be required’ to submit to drug testing.
This discussion focused on whether to increase staff testing and by how much, e.g., on a regular basis, random etc. Mr. Griffin conducted a survey of staff and reported that 60% oppose this or were neutral. 40% approve or strongly approve of more drug testing. He also reported that the vast majority of those surveyed thought it would negatively impact the culture in the district. Staff do undergo a background check and are fingerprinted when hired. Grossen stated that if any changes are made he would like the board members to be included in testing.
After discussion and compromises a motion was passed to ensure that new hires are tested before starting employment. The rest of the policy remained unchanged.
The discussion on having a therapy dog in the classroom was continued. Addie Edmunson teaches third grade and has a therapy dog that she would like to bring in to the school. She states that she does have an insurance policy for her dog.
Henderson and Grossen seemed generally supportive of the idea of a therapy dog but they felt they don’t have enough information on the insurance aspect yet to make a decision. Ryals was concerned that the school would essentially be used to train the dog since it is only 8 months old. This topic was tabled to get further information on the insurance aspect.
This season’s snow removal bid was awarded to Ivey Construction. This was the only bid received. A bid for bus mechanic work was approved from Tanner Zuhlke, owner of TnA Customs & Repair. This was also the only bid received for this work. The board thought both bids came in at reasonable rates.
Finally, the district cell phone policy was presented. This means that it will be discussed at the next meeting. The current cell phone policy can be found on the district website.
