Pubdate: March 7,1999 Source: Orange County Register (CA) Copyright: 1999 The Orange County Register Contact: http://www.ocregister.com/ Section: Metro,page 1 Author: Brady Rhoades-OCR SCHOOLS RETHINKING 'ZERO TOLERANCE' DRUG AND ALCOHOL POLICIES Education: Strict rules aimed at curbing abuse have worked,backers say.But there are critics. Police confiscate a marijuana pipe from a Corana del Mar High senior during a routine traffic stop in 1998 and report it to the boy's school. The student is promptly suspended and transferred to another school under the district's "zero tolerance" drug policy. So he sues, eventually seeking to have the district's policy abolished. Last year, two school districts' zero tolerance policies on drugs and alcohol were challenged, and a third district is rewriting its hard-line policy. "Districts are going to be forced to rethink their position or spend a huge part of their education budgets on legal fees," said attorney David Shores, who won a court decision overruling Newport-Mesa's zero tolerance policy. Newport-Mesa, Tustin and Laguna Beach unified school districts are doing just that: Newport-Mesa: Its February 1998 transfer of Corona del Mar High senior Ryan Hunstman was overruled by Superior Court Judge Robert E. Thomas, who said the action constituted cruel and unusual punishment. Huntsman's lawsuit seeking to have the zero tolerance policy abolished is pending. The district reworked portions of the policy, but bigger changes might be in store: In April, the school board will re-evaluate the entire policy. Tustin: Board members will decide Monday if their zero tolerance policy needs to be refined. This follows an October case in which five Foothill High seniors were transferred or expelled after allegedly being caught smoking marijuana during lunch hour. Three of the students sued the district and lost, but the case sparked protests from hundreds of parents. Laguna Beach: Board members are rewriting a policy they say is unclear and results in too many suspensions. "The result of being unclear is that each of the coaches in the athletic department read it a little differently, and the dance department reads it a little differently, and so on. So we had four or five different interpretations," said Steve Rabago, school board president. Supporters say it sends a clear message to children. "I think the way it's designed and the way it's posted it's like a reminder across the line that if you use drugs or alcohol, you're out of here. Its a good tool," said Wendy Leece, a Newport-Mesa school board member. "Zero tolerance" became a catch phrase in the 1980s, when school officials grappled with what they deemed an increase in drug and alcohol use among students. "It kind of snuck up on us in the 1970s and '80s," said Tom Jacobson, assistant superintendent of Newport-Mesa. "Maybe it started in the 1960s with freedoms being stretched. Then we started to see car accidents, injuries, and death." Jacobson said three students were killed in car accidents involving drugs or alcohol while he was principal of Newport Harbor High in the late 1980s. At that time, students caught using or selling drugs or alcohol were suspended for five days and then given counseling. "We decided we had to come up with something that had a clear, deterring effect," Jacobson said. Many zero tolerance policies have those attributes: A student caught possessing or being under the influence of drugs or alcohol is subject to suspension and transfer on the first offense, and expulsion on the second offense. If a student is caught selling drugs, expulsion is called for on the first offense. The rules apply when a student is on campus, at a school function, on lunch hour or driving to or from a school-related activity. Opinions vary on whether zero tolerance deters students from using drugs or alcohol. "It's a lazy policy because you don't work with the individual or consider each case on an individual basis," said Tom Meiss, a teacher at Foothill High in Tustin. "Moving the student's problems from one school to another is kind of stupid." Jacobson disagrees. "If you talk to high school principals, prior to implementation of this policy, we would typically send half a dozen kids home from school events flat on their back," Jacobson said. "Once we implemented zero tolerance, our activities cleaned up immensely." Because enforcement and reporting procedures were different in the late 1980s, comparing data with earlier years is inconclusive. In simple terms, it's hard to prove that zero tolerance works. That leaves the policy open to attack, and leaves Newport-Mesa, Tustin and Laguna Beach scrambling to find the best solution for keeping kids of drugs. One district went straight to the hors's mouth. Earlier this year, Laguna Beach held a collaborative meeting between school board members and about 60 students at Laguna High School. On campus. Dress: casual. "It was very reflective of our community," Rabago said. "We had kids who thought substance abuse was the wrong thing and should be dealt with, and there were kids who felt that it was a personal choice on their own time." BY THE NUMBERS Student transfers and expulsions in 1997-98 under "zero tolerance" drug and alcohol policies in Newport-Mesa, Tustin and Laguna Beach unified school districts: Newport-Mesa: 60 transferred, 30 expelled. Tustin: 66 transferred, none expelled. Laguna Beach: The district does not transfer students because there is only one high school. Two expelled. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek Rea