SCHOOL BOARD TO CONTINUE DRUG TESTING POLICY DIALOGUE

Churchill County School Board trustees will continue discussion
Thursday on a proposed employee drug and alcohol testing policy.

When the board first broached the subject two weeks ago, it decided
to meet with representatives of the district's three labor unions
before adopting a drug testing policy. Union representatives said
they are not opposed to drug and alcohol testing but want provisions
in the policy to protect employees' civil liberties.

The original draft of the plan would allow testing of employees if
there is a reasonable suspicion that an employee is impaired. It
would also require testing whenever a worker's compensation claim is
filed, and after an accident that causes $500 or more in damage.

The employee would be sent home until results of the test are known.
If the results are negative, the employee would be paid for any days
off. If the test is positive, the district has the option of
allowing the employee to obtain substance abuse counseling. A
drug and alcohol test would be required before that person returns
to work. The employee would have to agree to random testing as a
condition of continued employment.

The draft policy also permits the district to search vehicles,
clothing and personal property on school grounds.

The district insurance carrier said the number of worker's
compensation claims has increased, especially the number of people
falling. The number of claims puts the district at risk of losing
its insurance, according to Board Chairwoman Debbie Getto- Smith.

In other business, the board could take action to hire Celtic Energy
as a third-party consultant to oversee an energy savings program.

The district has been exploring a program that would replace old
equipment with newer, more energy-efficient equipment to save on
utility costs. Parts, labor and consulting fees would be paid from
the savings and not come from the school district's budget.

A representative from Celtic Energy gave a presentation at the
board's last meeting explaining how the program works and how the
district would be protected if projected savings didn't materialize.

Another topic that has been considered by the board is also on
Thursday's agenda. Trustees will discuss a proposal from VersaTrans
Solutions to perform a transportation study.

According to the company's Web site, it provides software and
training to help school districts make decisions on routing buses
and plan boundaries for school attendance. Information gleaned from
the software saves money on bus maintenance and allows
more efficient use of school buses, the company states.

VersaTrans Solutions' proposal for Fallon indicates it would create
school bus routes using elementary school attendance zones in a
neighborhood school concept. One result might be revised school
start times to ease bus schedules.

"With the growth anticipated in the next few years, the district
seeks to evaluate the impact of changing the elementary school
attendance policy to a neighborhood school pattern that would create
an attendance zone for each elementary school," the proposal states.

The board meets at 7 p.m. in the district's administration building,
545 E. Richards St. School board meetings are open to the public.