Drug and Alcohol Testing Program Bus Drivers

Employees who operate school vehicles are subject to drug and alcohol testing if a commercial driver's license is required to operate a school vehicle which transports 16 or more persons, including the driver, or which weighs 26,001 pounds or more. For the purposes of this testing program, the term "employees" includes applicants who have been offered a position to operate a school vehicle.

Employees operating a school vehicle as described above are subject to preemployment drug testing and random, reasonable suspicion, post-accident, return-to-duty, and follow-up drug and alcohol testing. Employees operating school vehicles shall not perform a safety-sensitive function within four hours of using alcohol. Employees governed by this policy shall be subject to drug and alcohol testing beginning the first day they operate or are offered a position to operate school vehicles and will continue to be subject to drug and alcohol testing as long as they may be required to perform a safety-sensitive function as it is defined in administrative regulations. (See DCCB-R.) Employees with questions about the drug and alcohol testing program may contact the superintendent.

Employees who violate the terms of this policy will be subject to discipline up to and including termination. Employees who violate this policy may be required to successfully participate in a substance abuse evaluation and, if recommended, a substance abuse treatment program. Employees required to participate in and who fail to or refuse to successfully participate in a substance abuse evaluation or recommended substance abuse treatment program will be subject to discipline up to and including termination.

It is the responsibility of the superintendent to develop administrative regulations to implement this policy. The superintendent shall also inform applicants of the requirement for drug and alcohol testing in notices or advertisements for employment, in the application form, and personally at the first interview with the applicant.

The superintendent shall also be responsible for publication and dissemination of this policy and its supporting administrative regulations to employees operating school vehicles. The superintendent shall also oversee a substancefree awareness program to educate employees about the dangers of substance abuse and notify them of available substance abuse treatment resources and programs.