Pubdate: Wed, 09 Jan 2008
Source: Idaho Mountain Express (ID)
Copyright: 2008 Express Publishing, Inc
Contact:  http://www.mtexpress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2296
Author: Terry Smith, Express Staff Writer

DEMONSTRATORS PROTEST SCHOOL EXPULSION POLICY

Organizers Claim School District Is 'Creating Throw-Away Kids'

A half dozen protesters braved cold weather and blowing  snow Monday 
morning to protest the Blaine County School  District's policy for 
expelling troublesome students.

"They're creating throw-away kids in the valley," said  Dana Barbee, 
an adolescent addiction counselor and one  of the organizers of the 
demonstration in front of the  school district office on West Bullion 
Street in  Hailey.

Demonstrators complained that the district's expulsion  policy 
short-changes expellees on their education,  retards their 
socialization process and typically puts  the children on a course 
that only leads to more  problems.

"None of them have positive outcomes," said Barbee, who  counsels 
children who have been expelled. "I've watched  this go on for a year 
now and decided, 'You know what,  I've got to do something.'"

The group carried picket signs with slogans such as  "Expulsion is 
throwing away the kids," "Expulsion is  not the answer" and "Our 
throw-away kid is a community  failure."

Barbee said the demonstrations will continue in front  of the school 
district office each Monday morning from  8 a.m. to 9 a.m. until mid-February.

Greg Greenfield, a Hailey mental health counselor, said  the school 
district is abrogating its responsibility  when it expels students.

"If you get in trouble in the Army, you'll still be in  the Army," 
Greenfield said. "In the school district,  these kids are out of 
sight, out of mind."

District records show that about 10 students are  expelled each year. 
Ten were expelled in each of the  two previous school years and five 
have been expelled  so far this school year.

Board Clerk Cathy Zaccardi said expulsions represent  .58 percent of 
the district's total high school and  middle school population of 
about 1,700 students.

Zaccardi said expulsion is a last resort but is  sometimes necessary 
to protect the health and safety of  students and faculty.

"When you get down to brass tacks, that's the last  thing the school 
board wants to do," she said.

"Children who consistently break school rules, engage  in illegal 
activity such as drug and alcohol  consumption, and who continually 
disrupt the education  process or threaten the health, safety and 
welfare of  other students and staff forfeit the right to an 
education and expulsion takes place," Zaccardi said.

Students can be expelled for fighting and other  disruptive behavior, 
but Zaccardi said illegal drug and  alcohol use account for 80 
percent of expulsions.

Expulsion is not automatic when a student violates the  rules. The 
district has a process in place that offers  offending students the 
chance to mend their ways.

Offenders are typically placed on probation and  required to live up 
to a contract to remediate improper  behavior.

"Ninety-nine percent of the time the process is  successful," Zaccardi said.

Many students, even if expelled, are allowed access to  the district 
support-services building to continue  their education by taking 
classes online.

"We are one of a very few districts in the state of  Idaho that offer 
this service to expelled students,"  Zaccardi said.

A student can be denied the service, however, if he or  she is 
determined by the board to be potentially  dangerous or disruptive.

One student who finds himself in that position is  14-year-old Damon 
Wall, who was a freshman at Wood  River High school until he was 
expelled last month for  a second offense of fighting.

Wall, along with parents Russell and Brandie Lepley,  was one of the 
half dozen protesters in front of the  district office Monday morning.

Wall is not even allowed on school district property,  and his 
parents made sure he stayed on the public  sidewalk during the 
demonstration. Otherwise, he could  be charged with trespassing, his 
mother said.

Brandie Lepley said she's signing her son up for  Internet classes 
and he's spending some of his free  time in community service at 
Blaine Manor, but  otherwise he feels isolated and abandoned by the  expulsion.

"The board told him that he's an incorrigible child,  but we don't 
believe it," she said.

So what does Wall have to say about the situation?

"I'd rather be in school," he said.

Expulsions typically last for one full year.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart