Pubdate: Sun, 13 May 2007 Source: Mississippi Press, The (MS) Copyright: 2007 Mississippi Press Contact: http://www.gulflive.com/mississippipress/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2254 OCEAN SPRINGS SCHOOL DRUG POLICY SHOULDN'T CHANGE Ocean Springs School Board members ought to reject changing the district's zero-tolerance policy toward drug possession on school property. A degree of leniency is being sought for students caught for the first time with drugs. The current policy calls for students violating the drug policy to be sent to an alternative school for one year. Students sent to the alternative school for drug possession can request an early return to regular classes, but must spend at least 85 percent of the school year in the alternative school. While flexibility is a valuable tool in discipline, the school district should not bend when it comes to drug possession. The explanation may be that this leniency is only for first-time offenders, but the message sent is the wrong one. Drug possession on campus should not be dismissed lightly, and that's what the policy change suggests is under way here. Superintendent Robert Hirsch said he surveyed other districts and found alternative school terms for first-time drug offenders are as short as 45 days. Hirsch said his administrators are telling him they need a policy with more flexibility. However, John Brenke, a board member, asked Hirsch if the more lenient policies lessened the violations or created more violations. That's a great question. The discussion brings up the entire scope of discipline in schools. Teachers face a constant challenge to maintain discipline. Drug possession and use on campus promises to make maintaining order in the classroom more difficult. Relaxing the drug policy would undermine teachers and that should be avoided. Besides discipline issues, drug possession poses a heavy risk that drug use will proliferate on campus. The board and administrators are inviting trouble if they relax the rules. Drug possession, like firearms on campus, is a serious matter and should not be treated lightly. If students are drug users, they should know they will face a heavy penalty for bringing drugs onto campus. Alternative school may be tough, but it is better than jail, which may eventually happen to them in the real world. Society has set boundaries for this kind of behavior and school is one place where students should learn the limits. Students caught with drugs on campus should welcome a sentence to the alternative school rather than a trip before a prosecutor and judge. As the anti-drug slogan of the 1980's stated, the board should "Just Say No" to this proposal. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek