Pubdate: Sun, 14 Jul 2002
Source: Knoxville News-Sentinel (TN)
Copyright: 2002 The Knoxville News-Sentinel Co.
Contact:  http://www.knoxnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/226
Author: Jennifer Lawson, News-Sentinel staff writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

LESS THAN ZERO: LAWSUIT CRACKS VENEER OF SCHOOL POLICY'S ABSOLUTES

A lawsuit filed on behalf of Knox County Schools students expelled for 
taking or possessing someone else's prescription drugs is changing the way 
the school system's zero tolerance policy is applied.

First filed in January 2001, the lawsuit has since become a class action 
and challenges the school system's practice of expelling students without 
providing alternative education for them.

In response, the school system is trying out a summer school program for 
some expelled students and will place 15 of them in a special alternative 
classroom when classes begin in August.

State and local laws which mandate that students who commit certain 
offenses will be expelled from school are called zero tolerance because 
extremely little flexibility is built into them.

Plaintiffs' attorneys in the lawsuit recently asked a judge to rule that 
the school system has failed to comply with a court order issued more than 
a year ago. In March 2001 Knox County Chancellor Daryl R. Fansler ordered 
that the students be placed in alternative school until the school board 
reformulated its zero tolerance policy to comply with state law, which 
provides that students need not be totally expelled from the school system 
or be expelled for a full year.

"It's clear that in cases where students have been expelled for violation 
of the local board's zero tolerance policy, the Legislature has 
contemplated that these cases will be considered on a case-by-case basis 
for purposes of modifying the length of expulsion from regular school," 
Fansler wrote.

"It is equally abundantly clear that the Legislature contemplated that 
there would be circumstances where complete expulsion from school would not 
be appropriate, and the Legislature plainly stated that complete expulsion 
is not mandated in every case," the judge continued.

In May, the plaintiffs asked Fansler to issue a partial summary judgment 
"because the defendants have failed as a matter of law to comply with the 
requirements of the order."

The lawsuit began after two freshman boys were expelled from Halls High 
School for taking or possessing someone else's prescription sleeping pills. 
Since then several other students and their parents have joined the 
lawsuit. It was declared a class action last April.

First implemented in Knox County in 1996, zero tolerance policies sprang up 
across the country after a spate school shootings. The local policy 
mandates a one-year expulsion for students who bring to school a gun, knife 
or other weapon or who are under the influence of or possess alcohol, 
illegal drugs or unauthorized prescriptions.

Since the beginning of the 1998-99 school year, 579 students have committed 
zero tolerance offenses. The vast majority of them were expelled for at 
least two semesters, but not all were. Under federal law, those who are 
categorized as "special education students" because of a physical, mental 
or emotional difficulty cannot be expelled from school. They must be 
provided alternative education.

That was the basis of the original lawsuit filed by the Knoxville Legal Aid 
Society's Pro Bono Project. The children's attorneys argued that their 
clients' right to a free and public education, as provided in the state and 
U.S. constitution, was being violated.

After Judge Fansler's March 2001 order, the Knox County Board of Education 
amended its zero tolerance policy to include that all expulsions executed 
under the policy would be reviewed for placement in the alternative schools.

But since then, no zero tolerance-expelled students have been placed in 
alternative schools. The plaintiffs argue that violates the judge's order.

"The defendants' review of all zero tolerance students for alternative 
educational services is governed by its stated position that it has 'no 
money' and 'no space' for alternative education services," the motion reads.

The motion quotes from the deposition of Walter Mencer, assistant to 
Superintendent of Schools Charles Lindsey, who heads the Zero Tolerance 
Committee.

Mencer explained that after a student is accused, for example, of bringing 
a knife to school, the principal investigates, conducts a hearing and then 
sends the file on to Mencer. The three-member committee reviews the case 
and makes a recommendation to the board, which makes the final decision to 
expel.

After the board made its alternative school amendment, Mencer said, the 
committee "looked at how we would be able to place a student in the 
alternative school." In the end, it boiled down to money. The school system 
was forced to cut nearly $10 million from its budget last year.

One possibility was placing students at the evening alternative school, but 
it was closed, Mencer said in his recent deposition.

"We no longer have that, so that's gone. We have no money to expand the 
alternative school so there was no way, basically, with the alternative 
schools being full, that we could place anybody in alternative school," he 
said.

Knox County Deputy Attorney General Marty McCampbell represents the school 
system in legal issues. She answered the motion for summary judgment on May 29.

The school board does not have a "constitutional or statutory duty to 
provide educational services to students who have been expelled," she wrote.

"Public education is not a fundamental right under the Tennessee or U.S. 
Constitution."

A hearing before Chancellor Sharon Bell - to whom the case was transferred 
- - is the next step.
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