A Little Rock School District panel's vote on draft policies prohibiting employees' use of medical marijuana on district property was put on hold for a month Thursday, as were votes on policies regarding employee sick leave and magnet school admissions.
The district's seven-member Community Advisory Board was short three of its members Thursday night. Anthony Hampton, the board's acting chairman, said the votes on policy matters would best be delayed until more of the board members could participate in the decision-making. Hampton also noted that members of the public had questions not yet answered on some of the policy topics.
Advisory board decisions on district matters are not final but are recommendations to Arkansas Education Commissioner Johnny Key. Key acts in place of a school board in the state-controlled school system and has the final decision-making authority.
District leaders have drafted two identical policies prohibiting the use and possession of marijuana and medical marijuana on district properties. One draft applies to certified employees -- including teachers -- and the other applies to the support staff -- including safety and security department employees and drivers of district vehicles.
"While the State of Arkansas has authorized the use of medical marijuana ... marijuana is still a prohibited, controlled substance under federal law regardless of its use," the proposed policies state.
"Because of the district's obligations to comply with federal law, marijuana is not allowed on district property or in any district vehicle, regardless of a student, employee, parent or any individual's status as a medical marijuana license holder or if the marijuana is otherwise considered 'medical marijuana,'" the documents state.
The drafts go on to say that in the event someone is found with marijuana on district property or there is reasonable suspicion that a person is under the influence of marijuana, the district will follow through with drug and alcohol testing and otherwise comply with actions and consequences that are in state and federal law, employments contracts, district policies and student handbooks.
The proposed policies specify that all employees in the district's safety and security department, and all employees who are required to hold commercial driver's licenses are subject to random drug testing and cannot possess or use marijuana regardless of whether they possess a state-permitted medical marijuana license. A positive result in a pre-employment drug screen will prevent employment in the district.
The language in the draft policies, however, does note that Arkansas' medical-marijuana law is new and "possibly subject to change."
"As the need arises with changes in state and/or federal law, the district will consider and/or examine district policies in order to assess whether revisions, if any, may be needed."
Public and private agencies are having to consider how to deal with the potential of medical-marijuana use by their employees.
Arkansas voters in 2016 approved Amendment 98 to the Arkansas Constitution, legalizing the sale and use of marijuana for medical purposes if doctors have certified that a patient suffers from any of the 18 conditions that qualify for holding a marijuana registry card.
As of earlier this month, there were 11,739 medical-marijuana registry cards issued, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette has reported previously. Within the past week, retailers have begun selling medical marijuana.
Little Rock already has a policy that takes into account the state law on medical marijuana. More detailed than the school district's draft, the city policy states that employees under the influence of medical marijuana are prohibited from undertaking any task that would constitute negligence or professional malpractice and are prohibited from operating any type of powered vehicle or equipment.
For those positions that are not safety-sensitive, however, the city policy states that a determination of whether an employee is under the influence of medical marijuana will not be based solely on a positive drug test but also on observations, information from a medical doctor and other factors.
Regarding the issue of Little Rock School District employee sick leave, district leaders have proposed adding a paragraph to the existing sick-leave policy that says, in part, that "excessive absenteeism will be addressed with employees who exceed the number for the current contract year, subject to the limitations governed by federal law" such as the Family Medical Leave Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Arkansas law provides teachers who work 9.25 months a school year with a minimum of 10 days of sick leave and allows employees to accumulate year to year their unused leave.
Teresa Gordon, president of the Little Rock Education Association union that represents teachers and most support staff members in the district, objected Thursday to what she said was a newly implemented sick leave discipline policy that is being applied to teachers for legitimate use of their accrued sick leave.
Gordon told the advisory board that the disciplinary actions are a violation and a breach of the professional negotiations agreement between the association and the district. The professional negotiations agreement obligates the district to negotiate in good faith personnel policies, salaries and educational matters of mutual concern, Gordon said.
Jordan Eason, human relations specialist for the district, said the district is not penalizing the employees for using their 10 days of annual sick leave but is notifying them that that they are on track to use up their leave and asking them if they would be best served by qualifying for absences under the Family Medical Leave Act that allows for up to 12 weeks of absences for serious conditions.
Community Advisory Board members took no action Thursday on the sick-leave language, nor did they vote on the district's proposed policy on student admission requirements to magnet and other specialty program schools.
District and Arkansas Department of Education leaders have said the draft magnet school admissions policy is an attempt to consolidate scattered rules and practices as well as address complaints from some parents in recent months about the magnet schools -- including removal of underperforming students from the special-program schools.
Metro on 05/17/2019