Pubdate: Thu, 25 Jan 2007
Source: St. Petersburg Times (FL)
Copyright: 2007 St. Petersburg Times
Contact: http://www.sptimes.com/letters/
Website: http://www.sptimes.com/home.shtml
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/419
Author: Eddy Ramirez
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

SCHOOL BOARD WEIGHS ZERO-TOLERANCE OPTIONS

Officials Question Whether One Program Really Discourages Students' 
Drug And Alcohol Use.

INVERNESS - School officials are struggling to measure  the success 
of a new program that offers a second  chance to students who are 
caught with drugs or alcohol  - an offense that in the past resulted 
in an automatic  expulsion.

The program gives school administrators several options  to deal with 
students who violate the district's  zero-tolerance rules banning 
drugs and alcohol on  school campuses.

For example, students caught with marijuana now have  the option of 
attending the Renaissance Center, where  they receive counseling 
services as well as  instruction. If those students show improvement 
in the  transition program, they can eventually return to their  home school.

The intent is to keep students who made bad choices  from falling 
behind in school.

In the past, those students would have been expelled  from school up 
to 18 weeks without any services. Some  fell in with the wrong crowd 
and never returned to  school.

But now the School Board is wrestling with difficult  questions, 
including whether the program discourages  drug and alcohol use among 
students and whether to  expand the counseling services to other 
zero-tolerance  offenders, such as students who bring "dangerous 
instruments" to school.

For the most part, the program has been successful,  said Andy Nott, 
a psychologist at the Renaissance  Center.

Since the school opened to students with drug and  alcohol 
violations, eight middle school students have  completed the program, 
meaning they responded  positively to the treatment and returned to 
their home school.

Six other students moved into the school's regular  program. Students 
have the option to stay at the school  or return to their home 
schools if administrators  determine they have shown enough improvement.

But not all students are taking advantage of a second chance.

Even after receiving counseling, some students are  failing drug 
tests or simply refusing the help.

Nott asked the School Board on Tuesday what to do with  those students.

"Boot them out, in my humble opinion," said board  member Ginger 
Bryant. "They're influencing all the  other students that we are 
charged with protecting."

Board Chairman Bill Murray agreed.

"If we give them a second chance and they blow it,"  Murray said, 
"they're gone."

Rich Hilgert, the student services director, said the  district must 
distinguish between habitual drug users  and first time offenders who 
made a bad choice.

"To just say we're putting a student with a drug  addiction in this 
program and all of a sudden say that  he's going to quit using, in my 
opinion, is not going  to happen," Hilgert said. "But getting that 
counseling  and support is very important."

Hilgert noted that families are grateful that the  School Board gives 
zero-tolerance offenders the  opportunity to receive counseling and 
remain in school.

Board members, a majority of whom must approve all  expulsions, 
agreed to decide each case separately.

Another question the School Board tackled: whether to  allow students 
who are caught with "dangerous  instruments" into the program without 
an expulsion  appearing on their record.

The district's zero tolerance rules call for an  automatic expulsion 
for any student who brings a weapon  or uses a "dangerous instrument" 
in a threatening  manner. Such an instrument could be a sharp pencil.

Board member Pat Deutschman said she wants the program  to 
exclusively serve students with alcohol and drug  violations.

Other board members agreed that students with violent  offenses 
should not be allowed into the transition  program.

"There does need to be some fear out there," Deutschman  said, 
referring to students who continue to misbehave  and think they have 
a "free pass."
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman