Policy committee clarifies district-vehicle testing rules, keeps drug-and-alcohol testing requirements

RSU 57/MSAD 57’s policy committee spent a substantial portion of its April 1 meeting clarifying which employees must be subject to driver-licence checks, medical exams and random drug-and-alcohol testing.

Staff explained that the intent is to require these checks for anyone operating district-owned vehicles carrying passengers, whether the passengers are students or staff. The committee agreed to specify 'district-owned vehicle' in the policy so the district would not run motor-vehicle records or require testing for staff driving personal vehicles except in rare, preapproved circumstances.

A staff presenter summarized a statutory threshold for random testing and recommended changing the policy’s phrasing from 'each selection period' (quarterly) to 'annually' to match statutory intent. "So we looked closely at statute as it relates to random testing ... [and] wanted to say each year," the presenter said, recommending a minimum random-testing target of 50% of driver positions annually; the committee accepted that adjustment.

Committee members also discussed operational details such as whether non-CDL drivers who transport students should be included; staff confirmed the district intends to apply background checks, medical exams, MVR checks and drug-and-alcohol testing to any employee operating a district vehicle carrying passengers.

No formal vote tallies were recorded in the transcript for these revisions; the committee recorded consensus on wording and rejected several suggested deletions to retain testing requirements and cross-references to statute. Staff was directed to reflect these clarifications in the draft presented to the board.