Document text
--> --> School board seeking community discussion on drug, alcohol policy By Maggie McGehee Ashland Daily Tidings With teachers and administrators in agreement on the procedures to follow when discipline problems arise on field trips, the Ashland School District board of directors is turning its attention to the district's drug and alcohol policy. "This is something teachers can use and feel they have enough support to go off campus with students," Superintendent Juli Di Chiro told the board Monday as she presented a list of set procedures teachers should follow when disciplinary problems come up while off campus with students. Before now, teachers had no written set of procedures to follow, which led to criticism in the wake of the board's decision to overturn the expulsions of two high school debaters accused of smoking marijuana in the bathroom of their hotel room at a national tournament in Oklahoma City this summer. Some community members addressed the board Monday in regard to student rights during questioning by teachers and administrators. Among them was Ashland City Councilor and student advocate Cate Hartzell. "Getting written comments from students without giving them Miranda rights where what they write down can go to a criminal issue raised my concern," Hartzell said. Though board member Chuck Keil strongly opposed any reading of Miranda rights to students by teachers or administrators, other district officials urged that students rights would not be violated when officials conduct disciplinary investigations. "We can't go there," Keil said. "It would be a mistake." Under state and federal regulations, students only have the right to due process guarantees when the investigation could result in the removal of property rights, such as expulsion, officials said. Therefore, students being investigated for matters that could lead to expulsion will have the right to due process. A complete list of the disciplinary procedures is available at the district office, 885 Siskiyou Blvd., during regular business hours. In looking to the district's drug and alcohol policy, board members Amy Amrhein and Keil will work with the help of an impartial mediator to select approximately 20 to 25 community members, teachers, students, parents and administrators to serve on the committee to examine the district's current drug policy and make a recommendation to the board in April. No changes to the policy will be made this year, according to Amrhein. The district's current drug and alcohol policy, dubbed the "zero-tolerance" policy by critics, holds that students caught drinking alcohol or using drugs on school grounds or at school functions will be expelled from school for one year. Under the policy, students can re-enter school by signing a contract agreeing to enter a drug education program, submitting to random urinalysis testing and promising to stay clean from drugs and alcohol for one calendar year. Students who re-enter school under a contract can be expelled for the remainder of their contract for violating its terms. Applications for the drug and alcohol policy review committee are available at the district office 885 Siskiyou Blvd. during regular business hours. The deadline to apply is Dec. 6. Officials hope to appoint members to the committee at the board's Dec. 10 meeting. The committee would then hold at least on public forum on the matter between January and March before making a recommendation by the April 8 board meeting. Any changes made to the policy would go into effect next school year. Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing