December 11, 2003 5:45 AM

Elvis has left the building, and he took the common sense with him

Bossier School Board upholds Advil expulsion: Girl had over-the-counter pills in purse at school

I've railed against the excesses of "Zero Tolerance" in this space before, and yet the madness continues unabated. This time a student has been expelled from a high school for a full year for the high crime of...possession of Advil? WTF? Have these maroons lost all sense of perspective and reasonableness? That would seem to be the case.

A student expelled from Parkway High for a year for having Advil, an over-the-counter pain reliever, will not be allowed to return to the school.

Kelly Herpin and daughter Amanda Stiles, a sophomore, appealed the one-year expulsion to a Bossier Parish School Board committee Thursday night, spending about 10 minutes with the board's administrative committee behind closed doors.

The committee and the full board voted unanimously to uphold an administrative decision that Stiles be expelled to the alternative school....

Superintendent Ken Kruithof said after the board meeting that the school system is following a state law that requires a one-year expulsion and being consistent in the system's "zero-tolerance" policy.

But another school official said earlier Thursday that having medication on campus doesn't automatically lead to a one-year expulsion. "After an investigation and a hearing then, if necessary, punishment is administered. It could be no punishment," said Betty McCauley, Bossier schools student services director.

Disciplinary action can range from in-school suspension to placement at the system's alternative school or expulsion from the system. From Aug. 11 through Wednesday, 18 students were sent to the system's alternative school because of possessing "pills," according to a report system officials compiled. However, Kruithof said he didn't know if the category covered nonprescription, prescription and illegal drugs or only nonprescription drugs.

State guidelines define medication as "all prescription and nonprescription drugs," McCauley said Thursday afternoon. McCauley hears discipline appeals from parents dissatisfied with discipline imposed by school principals.

McCauley declined comment after the hearing, referring questions to Kruithof. So did District 11 board member Gary Dowden, who heads the administrative committee.

Kruithof didn't respond directly to questions about McCauley's statements but emphasized that state law requires a one-year expulsion.

Herpin considers Stiles an "average student" in both grades and behavior but said Stiles never got in serious enough trouble to warrant an expulsion. Kruithof said Stiles had other disciplinary incidents in the past but said he didn't know if they resulted in suspensions.

So, if Ms. Stiles has a headache, what is she to do? I'm curious as to how the possession of Advil can materially contribute to a school's drug problem. Or is it that administrators are so afraid of bad publicity or being sued that they feel that they have no leeway to be anything but as harsh as they interpret state law as requiring?

Time was when adults were supposed to set an example for students. As role models who modeled mature and reasonable behavior, students could learn by example. What are students learning now? Well, how about that it's OK to ruin a child's school experience for something what wouldn't even warrant a misdemeanor charge in the criminal justice system? It's the "Kill them all, let God sort them out" theory of punishment.

Surely, somehow, somewhere, someone is going to wake up and smell the cat litter. I can't imagine that things could become any sillier...or could they??

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on December 11, 2003 5:45 AM.

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