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Ashland school board backs drug policy By JOHN DARLING ASHLAND - In the face of 30 angered teachers, the Ashland School Board Tuesday night affirmed its full support for Ashland High School's drug-alcohol policy. The board, however, stopped short of saying it would never again overturn a student expulsion. Teachers last week threatened to cease all extra-curricular and off-campus activities when the board voted 3-2 to void the expulsion of two students accused of smoking marijuana during a June debate team trip to Oklahoma City. LeeAnn Wallace, teacher and chairwoman of the Ashland Education Association, began the session by telling board members that teachers were ready to "withdraw" and make a contract issue out of the board's perceived lack of support for the school's drug policy. Debate teacher John Tredway said that if school staff isn't supported in attempts to discipline drug and alcohol-using students, then teachers might have to make the "ugly" choice of calling in police to gather evidence. He said he'd attended 21 meetings on the Oklahoma City incident and "it's been living hell." AHS principal Julie Reynolds said the board's earlier decision had an immediate negative impact on discipline, with some students refusing to honor their drug-free contracts and parents saying they would go to the school board rather than work with administration. "We need guidelines so we know clearly what you will support," she told the board. "Does student testimony count? Is one witness enough or does it take more? What do we need to do to demonstrate to you that we are credible people?" The unwritten policy requires expulsion of any students who use illicit drugs or alcohol at school or during school events or field trips. Students may quickly return to classes by signing a drug-free pledge and submitting to random urinalysis and drug counseling. Teachers rely heavily on reports of student witnesses, which the school dean then corroborates in interviews with other students, teachers and parents, Reynolds said; but the system won't function, she said, if the board overrides the school's judgment on credibility of witnesses. After two hours of board attempts to define or clarify the policy, teacher Rick Cornelius said, "When I hear board members question the fairness an legitimacy of the policy, I get very worried. I want to hear the policy is intact. Do you stand by the policy in effect now?" One by one, each board member affirmed the present drug-alcohol policy. Board member John Maurer, who voted to overturn the debate team case, called the policy "near perfect." "This policy works. It's been very well-handled and is supported by a vast majority of the community. It stands as is. I believe in it. Expulsion is our biggest hammer. It gets the students' attention and anything less than expulsion doesn't work." Board members who voted for the overturn all said they felt witnesses offered conflicting testimony, rendering evidence less than decisive. This marked the first time an expulsion was appealed to the school board. The meeting was a study session, with no public input or voting. Teachers and the board agreed to another study session to attempt to define the weight assigned to urinalysis and the level of credibility required of witnesses. John Darling is a free-lance writer living in Ashland. E-mail him at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.