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Kingsport City Schools board approves minor revisions to random drug-testing procedures
Summary
The Kingsport City Schools Board approved clarified language for its random drug-testing regulations — specifying how absences, work-based placements and verification dates affect testing and consequences — and asked for a fuller data report next month.
Kingsport City Schools trustees on June 10 approved modest revisions to the district's random drug-testing regulations, clarifying when students must be re-tested after absences, how work-based learning placements are handled, and when suspension timelines begin following a confirmed positive result.
The changes, presented by Doctor Andy True (staff member), codify procedures administrators said they have applied informally during the first year of the program and are intended to reduce confusion for families, staff and vendors.
Administrators said the revisions add specific examples of what counts as “not in school” on a selected testing day — including field trips, sports travel and academic placements — and state that students in an academic-related off-campus placement (such as a work-based learning internship) should be notified to return to campus for testing if feasible. The policy also clarifies that illness confirmed by KCS nursing personnel will be treated as an allowable absence and that, if a student is unavailable, the student will be included on the next scheduled testing date.
Doctor Andy True said the changes are “not really substantial changes” but reflect situations the district encountered during the program’s first year and help standardize responses across schools. He told the board that Mr. Nash will present a fuller report on the drug-testing program with data at next month’s meeting.
Board members focused discussion on three operational points: when the clock begins on disciplinary consequences; the distinction between an initial non‑negative screen and a confirmed positive result; and how to treat students who withdraw and later return while under an assigned testing schedule. The revisions establish that the 14‑day suspension from voluntary extracurricular activities begins on the date a medical review officer verifies a positive result, rather than on the test date or the date a family is notified.
Board member questions prompted administrators to explain terminology used by the testing vendor — for example, that a “non‑negative” result indicates the presence of a substance pending review and that medication or testing irregularities can produce a non‑negative that is not ultimately judged a policy violation. Administrators also said an adulterated sample is treated as a positive under the procedures.
The packet included a moved appeals provision (relocated for clarity into the appeal section) and a clarification that if a student is required to complete a series of tests (for example, the “next three” tests) and withdraws after one test, upon return the student is required to complete the remaining tests in that sequence.
The recommended motion to approve the proposed revisions for the 2025–26 school year passed on a board vote. The board directed staff to present Mr. Nash’s data report on the program at the July meeting.
The revisions will be implemented for the upcoming fall testing cycle; the board and staff said they expect to review the procedures annually and make further technical adjustments if needed.
