| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to high school athletics; amending s. |
| 3 | 1006.20, F.S.; requiring the Florida High School Athletic |
| 4 | Association to facilitate a 1-year drug testing program to |
| 5 | randomly test certain students for anabolic steroid use; |
| 6 | requiring schools to consent to the provisions of the |
| 7 | program as a prerequisite for membership in the |
| 8 | organization; requiring the organization to establish |
| 9 | procedures for the conduct of the program, including |
| 10 | contracting with a testing agency to administer the |
| 11 | program; providing that the finding of a drug test shall |
| 12 | be separate from a student's educational records; |
| 13 | providing for disclosure; requiring students and their |
| 14 | parents to consent to the provisions of the program as a |
| 15 | prerequisite for eligibility to participate in |
| 16 | interscholastic athletics; requiring the administration of |
| 17 | a school to meet with a student who tests positive and his |
| 18 | or her parent to review the finding, penalties, and |
| 19 | procedures for challenge and appeal; providing penalties |
| 20 | for positive findings; providing due process procedures |
| 21 | for challenge and appeal; requiring a report to the |
| 22 | Legislature on the results of the program; providing an |
| 23 | exemption from civil liability resulting from |
| 24 | implementation of the program; requiring the Department of |
| 25 | Legal Affairs to provide defense in claims of civil |
| 26 | liability; requiring program expenses to be paid through |
| 27 | legislative appropriation; providing an effective date. |
| 28 |
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| 29 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 30 |
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| 31 | Section 1. Subsection (10) is added to section 1006.20, |
| 32 | Florida Statutes, to read: |
| 33 | 1006.20 Athletics in public K-12 schools.-- |
| 34 | (10) RANDOM DRUG TESTING PROGRAM.-- |
| 35 | (a) Contingent upon funding, and to the extent funded, the |
| 36 | organization shall facilitate a 1-year program during the 2007- |
| 37 | 2008 academic year in which students in grades 9 through 12 in |
| 38 | its member schools who participate in regular and postseason |
| 39 | competition in football, baseball, or weightlifting governed by |
| 40 | the organization shall be subject to random testing for the use |
| 41 | of anabolic steroids as defined in s. 893.03(3)(d). All schools, |
| 42 | both public and private, shall consent to the provisions of this |
| 43 | subsection as a prerequisite for membership in the organization |
| 44 | for the duration of the program. |
| 45 | (b) The organization's board of directors shall establish |
| 46 | procedures for the conduct of the program that, at a minimum, |
| 47 | shall provide for the following: |
| 48 | 1. The organization shall select and enter into a contract |
| 49 | with a testing agency that will administer the testing program. |
| 50 | The laboratory utilized by the testing agency to analyze |
| 51 | specimens shall be accredited by the World Anti-Doping Agency. |
| 52 | 2. Each member school shall report to the organization the |
| 53 | names of all students who will represent the school in football, |
| 54 | baseball, and weightlifting. A student shall not be eligible to |
| 55 | participate in interscholastic athletics in any of these sports |
| 56 | in a member school until the student's name has been reported to |
| 57 | the organization by the school. |
| 58 | 3. The organization shall provide to the testing agency |
| 59 | all names of students that are submitted by its member schools. |
| 60 | A maximum of 1 percent of the total number of students who |
| 61 | participate in football, baseball, and weightlifting shall be |
| 62 | randomly selected by the testing agency to undergo testing. |
| 63 | 4. The testing agency shall notify not fewer than 7 days |
| 64 | in advance both the administration of a school and the |
| 65 | organization of the date on which its representatives will be |
| 66 | present at the school to collect a specimen from a randomly |
| 67 | selected student. However, the name of the student from which a |
| 68 | specimen is to be collected shall not be disclosed. |
| 69 | 5. The finding of a drug test shall be separate from a |
| 70 | student's educational records and shall be disclosed by the |
| 71 | testing agency only to the organization, the student, the |
| 72 | student's parent, the administration of the student's school, |
| 73 | and the administration of any school to which the student may |
| 74 | transfer during a suspension from participation in |
| 75 | interscholastic athletics resulting from a positive finding. |
| 76 | (c) Each student who wishes to participate in football, |
| 77 | baseball, or weightlifting and his or her parent must consent to |
| 78 | the provisions of this subsection as a prerequisite for athletic |
| 79 | eligibility. This consent shall be in writing on a form |
| 80 | prescribed by the organization and provided to the student by |
| 81 | his or her school. Failure to complete and sign the consent form |
| 82 | shall result in the student's ineligibility to participate in |
| 83 | all interscholastic athletics. The consent form shall include |
| 84 | the following information: |
| 85 | 1. A brief description of the drug testing program. |
| 86 | 2. The penalties for a positive finding. |
| 87 | 3. The procedure for challenging a positive finding. |
| 88 | 4. The procedure for appealing a prescribed penalty. |
| 89 | (d) A student who is selected for testing and fails to |
| 90 | provide a specimen shall be immediately suspended from |
| 91 | interscholastic athletic practice and competition until such |
| 92 | time as a specimen is provided. |
| 93 | (e) If a student tests positive in a test administered |
| 94 | under this subsection, the administration of the school the |
| 95 | student attends shall immediately: |
| 96 | 1. Suspend the student from participation in all |
| 97 | interscholastic athletic practice and competition. |
| 98 | 2. Notify and schedule a meeting with the student and his |
| 99 | or her parent during which the principal or his or her designee |
| 100 | shall review with them the positive finding, the procedure for |
| 101 | challenging the positive finding, the prescribed penalties, and |
| 102 | the procedure for appealing the prescribed penalties. |
| 103 | (f) For a positive finding, the student shall be suspended |
| 104 | from all interscholastic athletic practice and competition for a |
| 105 | period of 90 school days and shall be subject to a mandatory |
| 106 | exit test for restoration of eligibility no sooner than the 60th |
| 107 | school day of the suspension. If the exit test is negative, the |
| 108 | organization shall immediately restore the eligibility of the |
| 109 | student. If the exit test is positive, the student shall remain |
| 110 | suspended from all interscholastic athletic practice and |
| 111 | competition until such time as a subsequent retest of the |
| 112 | student results in a negative finding. The student shall be |
| 113 | subject to repeated tests for the duration of his or her high |
| 114 | school athletic eligibility. |
| 115 | (g) In addition to the penalties prescribed in paragraph |
| 116 | (f), a student who tests positive in a test administered under |
| 117 | this subsection shall attend and complete an appropriate |
| 118 | mandatory drug education program conducted by the student's |
| 119 | school, the student's school district, or a third-party |
| 120 | organization contracted by the school or school district to |
| 121 | conduct such an education program. |
| 122 | (h) The following due process shall be afforded each |
| 123 | student who tests positive in a test administered under this |
| 124 | subsection: |
| 125 | 1. The member school may challenge a positive finding and |
| 126 | must challenge a positive finding at the request of the student. |
| 127 | A sample of the original specimen provided by the student and |
| 128 | retained by the testing agency shall be analyzed. The member |
| 129 | school or the student's parent shall pay the cost of the |
| 130 | analysis. If the analysis results in a positive finding, the |
| 131 | student shall remain ineligible until the prescribed penalty is |
| 132 | fulfilled. If the analysis results in a negative finding, the |
| 133 | organization shall immediately restore the eligibility of the |
| 134 | student and shall refund to the member school or student's |
| 135 | parent the cost of the analysis. The student shall remain |
| 136 | suspended from interscholastic athletic practice and competition |
| 137 | during the challenge. |
| 138 | 2.a. The member school may appeal to the organization's |
| 139 | commissioner the period of ineligibility imposed on a student as |
| 140 | a result of a positive finding and must appeal at the request of |
| 141 | the student. The commissioner may require the student to |
| 142 | complete the prescribed penalty, reduce the prescribed penalty |
| 143 | by one-half, or provide complete relief from the prescribed |
| 144 | penalty. |
| 145 | b. Should the member school or student be dissatisfied |
| 146 | with the decision of the commissioner, the school may pursue the |
| 147 | appeal before the organization's board of directors and must do |
| 148 | so at the request of the student. The board of directors may |
| 149 | require the student to complete the prescribed penalty, reduce |
| 150 | the prescribed penalty by one-half, or provide complete relief |
| 151 | from the prescribed penalty. The decision of the board of |
| 152 | directors on each appeal shall be final. |
| 153 | c. Technical experts may serve as consultants to both the |
| 154 | organization's commissioner and its board of directors in |
| 155 | connection with such appeals. |
| 156 | (i) No later than October 1, 2008, the organization shall |
| 157 | submit to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the |
| 158 | House of Representatives a report on the results of the program. |
| 159 | The report shall include statistics on the number of students |
| 160 | tested; the number of violations; the number of challenges and |
| 161 | their results; the number of appeals and their dispositions; and |
| 162 | the costs incurred by the organization in the administration of |
| 163 | the program, including attorney's fees and other expenses of |
| 164 | litigation. |
| 165 | (j) The organization, members of its board of directors, |
| 166 | and its employees and member schools and their employees are |
| 167 | exempt from civil liability arising from any act or omission in |
| 168 | connection with the program conducted under this subsection. The |
| 169 | Department of Legal Affairs shall defend the organization, |
| 170 | members of its board of directors, and its employees and member |
| 171 | schools and their employees in any action against such parties |
| 172 | arising from any such act or omission. In providing such |
| 173 | defense, the Department of Legal Affairs may employ or utilize |
| 174 | the legal services of outside counsel. |
| 175 | (k) The program shall be conducted to the extent funded by |
| 176 | the Legislature. In order to conduct the program within |
| 177 | appropriated funds, the organization is authorized to implement |
| 178 | the program in only one or two of the named sports. All expenses |
| 179 | of the program shall be paid with funds appropriated by the |
| 180 | Legislature. Such expenses shall include, but not be limited to, |
| 181 | all fees and expenses charged by the testing agency for |
| 182 | administrative services, specimen collection services, and |
| 183 | specimen analysis; all administrative expenses incurred by the |
| 184 | organization in the facilitation of the program; and all |
| 185 | attorney's fees and other expenses of litigation resulting from |
| 186 | legal challenges related to the program. |
| 187 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2007. |