Pubdate: Tue, 05 Dec 2006
Source: Sunday Gazette-Mail (WV)
Copyright: 2006, Sunday Gazette-Mail
Contact:  http://sundaygazettemail.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1404
Author: Andrew Clevenger, Staff Writer

STUDENT SUES OVER 10-DAY SUSPENSION

Kids across America are warned to stay away from "nose candy" in 
anti-drug campaigns. But a Kanawha County student is fighting his 
suspension for pretending to put actual candy up his nose.

According to a lawsuit filed in Kanawha Circuit Court Monday, a 
student-athlete at Sissonville High School was given Smarties candy 
as a reward for good academic performance. In front of his teacher 
and fellow classmates, the student pretended to put one of the small 
candy discs up his nose. Another student used his cell phone to 
record video of the incident.

Principal Calvin McKinney, who is named as a defendant along with the 
Kanawha County school board, allegedly called the plaintiff into his 
office and confronted him about the incident.

"The plaintiff informed ... McKinney ... that at no time did he 
possess any drug or did he claim to possess any drug," according to the suit.

Still, McKinney then threatened to suspend the student -- identified 
in the lawsuit only by his initials -- unless he joined McKinney's 
"Narc Program" and went undercover to find real drug users at the 
school, according to the suit.

"The [student] was told that he was to 'hang around the bathroom' and 
the school parking lot," the suit states.

McKinney's investigation into the incident confirmed that the student 
was telling the truth about the Smarties candy, according to the suit.

"The plaintiff was informed that even though it was, in fact, just 
candy ... McKinney needed another 'Narc' for his program and that if 
the student would not agree to enter said Narc Program that he would 
be suspended," the suit reads.

After the student and his parents met with school officials and the 
student refused to cooperate with McKinney's proposal, he received a 
10-day suspension, according to the suit.

McKinney allegedly told the family that his "Narc Program" had been 
in effect for several years, and this was an opportunity to get a 
good student to go undercover.

The suit contends that McKinney usually uses the threat of suspension 
to force students who may be suffering academically to become a part 
of the "Narc Program."

As a result of the suspension, which began Friday, the student missed 
a meeting with recruiters who had visited the school to discuss a 
scholarship opportunity, the suit contends.

The suit seeks an injunction against the school board and unspecified 
monetary damages for emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life 
and the loss of a potential scholarship. It contends that requiring 
the student to seek out potential drug users could put the student in danger.

School board attorney Jim Withrow could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Elaine